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PLANTATION SERMONS,
OR
PLAIN AND FAMILIAR DISCOURSES
FOR THE
INSTRUCTION OF THE UNLEARNED.
BY THE
Rev. a. F. DICKSON,
OP CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,
NO. 265 CHESTNUT STREET.
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
James Dunlap, Treas.,
in the office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
RALPH BROWN DRAUGHON IIB1?ARY
AUBURN UNIVERSITY, ALABAMA 36849
)v/;?/^^ CONTENTS.
SERMON I.
Pasre
The Hard Way, 13
SERMON II.
None Righteous, .27
SERMON III.
The Faithful Saying, 41
SERMON lY.
Who is Jesus ? 56
SERMON Y.
A Risen Saviour, " . .67
SERMON YI.
Believe and be Saved, . . . ' . . , 78
SERMON YII.
Being Born Again, 89
'^ (iii)
IV CONTENTS.
SERMON YIII. ^^^'
The New Creature, 101
SERMON IX.
Joining the Churcla, . • « , . • .114
SERMON X.
Gospel Conduct, 126
SERMON XI.
The Lord our Shepherd, ....... 138
SERMON XII.
The Lord our Shepherd, (continued,) .... 149
SERMON XIII.
The Gospel Feast, . . . , . . . . IGO
INTRODUCTION
BY THE KEY. J L. KIRKPATRICK, D.D
A VERY solemn responsibility rests upon Chris-
tians residing in the Southern and South-western
States of the Union, in relation to the large num-
ber of coloured persons, mostly slaves, who are
amongst us, as a portion of our population and yet
forming a distinct class of our society. Their con-
dition is such, that if they shall receive instruction
in the truths of the gospel, and have access to its
privileges, it must be through our agency. Failing
to carry the gospel to them is, in effect, to exclude
them from it.
It is a matter of thankfulness, and a ground of
encouragement, that Christians, in this extensive
region of country, are not unmindful of their pecu-
liar obligations. Efforts have been made, and, year
by year, they are prosecuted with increasing vigour,
to place the ordinances of religion within the reach
of the bond as well as the free ; and we have the
most gratifying testimony that such exertions enjoy
1* V
VI INTRODUCTION.
tlie favour of Him who wills that all classes of men
should be brought to the knowledge of the truth.
Still, it is not to be denied, that too many Chris-
tians seem to suppose that they have fulfilled their
duties, with respect to the spiritual welfare of the
slave in their charge, when they impose upon him
no needless or improper restrictions in the enjoy-
ment of his religious privileges, and especially, if
they have afforded him reasonable opportunities for
attending the preaching of the word. Without any
wish to disparage the value to our servants of the
liberty accorded to them throughout our country, to
unite with the whites in the services of the sanc-
tuary, and without overlooking the trouble and ex-
pense to which many masters have subjected them-
selves, in making special provision for supplying
their servants with preaching and other means of
grace, we would still ask. Is there nothing more to be
done for them? The parentis not legai-ded as dis-
charging his duty to his children, when he has
secured seats for them in the house of God, nor even
although he advise, urge, and command them to
embrace the privilege thus secured. The enlight-
ened consciences and the general practice of pious
parents concur with the Scriptures, in recognizing
the necessity of additional and more direct ap-
pliances, such as personal instruction, reading the
word, exhortation and prayer, considered as a part
of the domestic training. Attention to these duties
is felt to be indispensable, if our children are to
INTRODUCTION. Vll
derive the full benefits of the public and more formal
privileges of the sanctuary. If indispensable to our
children, are they not so to our servants who, for
the most part, are but " children in understanding ? "
We should remember that the position which our
slaves occupy, debars them, in a great measure,
from the means and incentives to mental improve-
ment which are open to other classes of society.
As the natural consequence, their minds are slow in
comprehending the truth on all subjects requiring
investigation and thought. Frequent repetitions of
the lesson to be inculcated are necessary, in order
that any salutary and permanent impressions may
be made upon minds thus vacant and inert. Hence,
the importance of securing in the work of their reli-
gious tuition, the agency of those who have daily
acces" to them, that is, of the members of the fami-
lies with which they are connected. When once the
attention has been gained, and an interest awakened
in the soul respecting its condition and prospects,
we know that without a constant recourse to the
appliances which are within the reach of the family
alone, there is always great danger lest the seed
that has been sown be "caught away" before it
can take root in a soil at once so sterile and so
hard. Here, it seems to us, the inquiry and the
injunction of olden time apply in all their force:
" Whom shall he teach knowledge ? and whom shall
he make to understand doctrine? Them that are
weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breast
Viii INTRODUCTION.
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon
precept ; line upon line, line upon line ; here a lit-
tle, and there a little." Isa. xxviii. 9,10.
Nor have we surmounted all the special obstacles
lo the spiritual welfare of our servants, when we have
secured their attention and interest on behalf of
their souls. The ardour and impetuosity of their
emotions, and their great love of excitement, are
matters of common observation. These, united with
their scanty knowledge, and their slight powers
of self-control, expose them, in a peculiar degree,
to the excesses of superstition and fanaticism —
excesses, which are too often encouraged rather
than checked by the numbers in which they some-
times throng the places of public worship, by the
character and style of the preaching they there
listen to, and by the manner in which other exer-
cises are conducted, whether it be under the leader-
ship of one of their own class, or that of a white
man, as it often happens, scarcely better instructed
or less fanatically inclined than themselves. This
is an evil, a great and prevalent evil, to be cor-
rected ; and by what means shall it be done ? We
are persuaded there is no remedy so easy of appli-
cation, and so effective, as faithful, painstaking
instruction as a family duty, and that constant
watchfulness over the tendencies of awakened reli-
gious emotions among them, which the members of
the family alone, have no opportunity to exercise.
Let them be provided with the privileges of the
INTRODUCTION. IX
sanctuary, for wliich there is no substitute; let the
pastor or the missionary catechize them as fre-
quently as he may be able, in the church, on the
plantation, and in private; all this does not super-
sede the necessity of home instruction by pious mas-
ters, mistresses, and other members of the house-
hold. The co-operation of the latter is essential to
the full success of the labours performed by the
former. The position of the slave precludes the
pastor and the missionary from doing many things
for his spiritual guidance which his ignorance and
varied temptations render necessary: this "lack of
service " should be supplied at home.
In view of these facts, we hail with peculiar satis-
faction every judicious effort which is made to assist
Christians having servants under their control, in
carrying out a system of household instruction.
This little volume has been prepared, and it is now
published, for such purpose. The discourses con-
tained in it first appeared as a monthly series in
the Southern Presbyterian (Charleston, S. C.) and
having been strongly commended by ministers and
intelligent laymen of our communion, it has been
thought advisable to give them a wide circulation
in a form adapted to a more convenient and perma-
nent use. The author, at the time of writing them,
was the pastor of a church which embraced over
four hundred " coloured communicants." Mingling
much with them in the discharge of his pastoral
duties, he became acquainted in no ordinary degree,
X INTRODUCTION.
•with the peculiarities of their mental structure and
habits — their modes of thinking, and their suscep-
tibility of impressions, both good and bad — and
with their wants in common with other sinners and
partially sanctified Christians. The knowledge thus
derived has suggested the propriety of those features
which will strike the reader as characteristic of the
discourses, such as, the simplicity and directness of
the language ; the free use of figures of speech and
varied illustrations ; the rapid transitions from one
course of thought to another, &c. If any apology
for the abbreviations of familiar words and other
colloquialisms be necessary, it is sufficient to say
that the author's theory as to the best mode of
addressing the blacks is, that the preacher must
put himself in sympathy with them, by using lan-
guage in some such foi^m as they are accustomed to
hear it from day to day. Not that he must descend
to the use of coarse, offensive terms, or of forms of
expression that are grammatically inaccurate, for
nothing of this kind will be found in these "Plan-
tation Sermons ; " but his style must be free, famil-
iar, animated, stirring, as opposed to the formal and
stately, the distant and the heavy. We have had
an opportunity of knowing that the features here
referred to, have been found upon actual trial, to
adapt the discourses most happily to the capacities
and tastes of the class for whom they are designed.
Of the importance of the subjects treated of in
the volume and the sound, Scriptural views of truth
INTRODUCTION. XI
presented, we need say nothing, as a glance over the
table of contents will satisfy the reader on the first
point, and the imprimatur of our Board is a suffi-
cient voucher for the second.
Private Christians, engaged in labours for the
religious improvement of the blacks, often feel tlie
need of something to read to them which, whilst it
imparts solid instruction in a style adapted to the
grade of their intellects, shall engage their atten-
tion by its vivacity, and quicken their emotions by
the warmth of its tone. To such we commend these
discourses. The very form in which they are pre-
sented — that of the sermon — will give them a dig-
nity and favour in the view of the blacks that belong
to no other address. They love the sermon ; they
love to recall and talk over the text of the sermon.
Those who are accustomed from week to week to
call together the servants of the field or of the
house, to read, converse, and pray with them, or to
instruct them from the catechism, will find a valua-
ble auxiliary in this volume. Some who are deter-
red from attempting to hold meetings of this cha-
racter, through a distrust of their own capacity to
render them profitable, with these discourses m their
hands need not fear to undertake the work. If the
master of the family should refuse to go forward in
a duty that obviously devolves primarily upon him,
let the mistress assume the responsibility, as she
has often to assume it in respect to the religious
instruction of the children ; and in default of the
Xll INTRODUCTION.
proper services of the master and mistress, let the
pious son or daughter be their substitute. It is a
blessed work, — instructing the ignorant, teaching
the truth as it is in Jesus, guiding souls to the
knowledge of salvation — and, surely, none who
have learned the value of their own souls, or the
preciousness of the Saviour's love, will esteem it
otherwise than a delightful work.
Charleston, S. C, March, 1856
PLANTATION SERMONS,
SERMON I.
THE HARD WAY.
*^ The way of transgressors is hardy — Pbov. xiii. 15.
This world is a sorrowful place ; not one of us
ever saw the man jet, that had no sorrow — that
had no sickness, no hard, painful work ; no dan
ger; nobody to trouble him; no conscience finding
fault with him, and making him feel ashamed and
afraid, because he had done wrong. Wherevdi- we
go, we find sickness, and tears, and death. Every-
where people are tired of living, and afraid to die
— everywhere they are disappointed in their plans;
they get weary when they expected to be merry ;
they change about from one thing to another,
but they find trouble everywhere. I know there's
a great deal of difference among people — some
are sick all their lives, and some are well and
strong. Some see their children and their friends
all die, one after another, and others, again, have
them all alive and well, — or if they die, they
hardly miss them. Some are always getting dis-
2 16
14 PLANTATION SERMONS.
appointed and put out, and some get along easily
But in spite of that, everybody has his trouble:
if your children all live, maybe some of them
behave so badly that they have to be sent away,
or they keep you afraid something dreadful will
happen to them — or maybe they are so sickly,
and they suffer so much, that you'd almost rather
see them die. If you are strong and healthy,
something else goes wrong. You never can say,
"Now I'm happy," unless you're a Christian.
And what makes it worse is, that things do not
get better as life goes on. We don't begin with-
out trouble; and when we are little children we
don't keep on getting over it as we grow up,
and so get quite happy when we are old. Oh,
no! The old man is the worst off of all, unless
he is a Christian; his eyes, that used to be so
bright and keen, are almost blind — his old ears
can hardly hear the cock crow in the morn-
ing — his hand, that was so strong and steady a
little while ago, shakes now, like a leaf when
the wind blows. In the night he can't sleep
sound, and in the day he leans on his stick.
And so he pines away; he can't work, and he
can't rest — and oh, if he isn't ready to die,
all this trouble is only the beginning of sorrow
for himl Before long, he'll be weeping, and
wailing, and gnashing his teeth, because God
is angry with him for ever !
Now we know there's always sin wher^
THE HARD WAY. 15
tliere s trouble. Just as certain as there is fire
where you see smoke, just so sure there is sin
where you see people suffer, and weep and die.
And what a terrible thing this sin must be,
if it brings all this sorrow — if it makes the
body sicken and die, and the mother's heart
almost break because" her child's dead — if it
makes men hate one another, and rob and mur-
der — makes them groan and perish, and takes
them to that awful place when they die. Oh,
what a dreadful thing sin must be! — And this
is what I want to talk about to-day — the mis-
chief that sin does — "the way of transgressors
is hard.
I. It donH always begin hard. It feels quite
pleasant, for a minute or two, to have your own
Way.
A man started, one pleasant afternoon, to take
a sail. All was still; the ebb tide floated him
down, and the soft breeze bore him along. He
went on and on, over the bar, out to sea; the
blue water was smooth and still; he thought
he was quite safe, and he lay down and slept.
But presently a black cloud rose over the land;
the breeze fell away, and the little sail flapped
on the mast, as the boat rocked. Pretty soon
the thunder began to boom out; then the light-
ning flashed brighter and brighter, as the black
cloud crept on nearer and faster, almost over
his head. Then came the roaring wind, to stir
16 PLANTATION SERMONS.
up the waves, and beat him down in the sea ;
the thunder cracked like a thousand rifles, and
woke the poor fellow from his dangerous sleep;
and as he pulled away at the oars, and tried to
work back under the lee once more, he saw how
foolish he had been. Higher and higher the
waves tossed up and dashed against his little
boat, and drove him out to sea. All he could
do would 'nt save him. — There he was in the
wide ocean; night came on; not a friend to
help him, and the raging Avind roaring over his
head ! But God was in the storm, and just as
he was readj to give up and die, the wind fell,
and the waves grew still by degrees, and the
light-house shone out clear and bright to guide
him home. — So he toiled away at the oars,
and just at day-break he was safe again; but
he found, after all the smooth time he had at
first, that " the way of transgressors is hard."
And just so it is in sinning.
It begins so easily. Perhaps it is a cool,
pleasant Sunday morning; and as you look at
your corn, and see how much it needs work-
ing, and wonder if you ' 11 ever have such a
chance again, you think it will be very easy
and pleasant to get it all in order. You feel
strong and ready for it ; you count up how
much the corn will be worth when it's ripe,
and how much more you '11 have if you work
it now, than if you wait awhile; you are quite
THEHARDAVAY. 17
sure nobody will see you tliat's going to blame
you; you don't care much about going to church;
the more you think about it, the more you feel
like it, and the more certain you are that it
can' t be such a bad thing, or such a danger-
ous thing, as people say. 'And so, maybe at last
you get your hoe and go to work; the sun
don 't beat down on you ; the thunder don 't
roll over your head to frighten you; nobody
finds fault with you ; your conscience don 't trou-
ble you much. And so you begin to think it
was all very well done, and that it's all over
now. Ah, that 's a dreadful mistake ! God says,
" the way of the transgressor is hard" what-
ever you think about it, and he's sure to rnake
you think so, too, before he 's done with you.
II. The sinner's way is a hard way, because
he has a hard master, or rather, because he
has a hard set of masters. A man's master is
the one he works for, and the one he minds
the most. Not G-od ; for he don 't mind God's
word at all. Not the Lord Jesus, for he does 'nt
do his work at all. Who are the sinner's masters?
One of them is Satan. They please him oftener,
and do more of his work than anybody's else !
As Paul says, " they walk according to the prince
of the power of the air." You know what that
means? It means that you do exactly what he
wants done ! Isn 't that a strange and dreadful
thing? You have a cunning and a cruel ene-
2*
18 PLANTATION SEEM ON S.
my; lie hates you because God made you, and
because God loves you.
When Adam aud Eve were pure and happy,
he never rested till he had ruined them, and
robbed God of them, as he thought. Then, when
they were grieving and leaving their Heavenly
Father; when the angry angels were driving
them away; when the beautiful home in Eden
was gone for ever; when their hearts were full
of bitterness, and sin, and woe ; then Satan was
pleased, and clapped his hands for joy. They
were walking according to the "prince of this
world." You see, then, how cunning, and cruel,
and wicked he is; how he tries to disappoint,
and rob, and vex the great God ; how he loves
to ruin men, and take their souls to hell. —
Don 't you think he must be a hard master ?
and Paul says he is the sinner's master. But
maybe you'll say, "How can he be my master?
I don't like him, and I don't do anything
because I think he wants me to." I tell you,
that makes very little difference; he's so anx-
ious to have God displeased, and mischief done,
and souls lost and sent to hell, that he doesn't
care whether you wanted to do it or not. —
Besides, you let him tempt you whenever he
likes; he can put wicked thoughts in your
minds, and you won't drive them away; he can
rouse all your bad passions, and you won 't pray
to God to cure them ; he can make a wrong
THEHARDWAY. 19
thing look pleasant and good to jou, and you
won't shut your eyes and turn away, and say,
*' How can I do this great wickedness, and sin
against God?" And so, if you try ever so hard
not to believe it, you see Satan is your master;
you do what he likes, and you let him persuade
you to sin.
Another of the sinner's masters is his own
wicked heart. Maybe you '11 wonder at that, and
say, " Why, my heart 's a part of me ; how can
it be my master ? " Let me ask you a ques-
tion, now — How can the rudder turn the boat,
when it's a piece of the boat itself? I sup-
pose you'll tell me, which ever way the rudder
turns, the boat turns. Well, that's exactly the
way your heart is your master; whichever way
your heart turns, you turn. That's just what
Solomon said — "Out of the heart are the issues
of life." That means, your life will be what
your heart makes it. Now, if your heart can
make you live any way it pleases, then your
heart is your master. Let's see if it doesn't.
Suppose a man has a dishonest heart; he
wants to have what belongs to somebody else,
even if he has to steal it. Why, then, of course,
he does steal it when he gets a chance, unless
he's too much afraid of being found out. Or
suppose he has a cowardly heart; he isn't wil-
ling to run a little risk when he ought to.
Why, then, he runs away instead of standing up
20 PLANTATION SERMONS.
like a man. And so, if you have a wicked heart,
a heart that doesn't love God, or his ways, or
his dear Son, you 're certain to live as if you
didn't love him, and so your life will be wicked,
as well as your heart. Now, I say, a wicked
and selfish heart is a very had master. It doesn't
give you time to find out whether you hadn't
better serve the Lord, and love your neighbour,
and be good. No ! it hurries you right off into
sin. No matter if the Bible warns you, and God
forbids and threatens you, and your own con-
science begs you to stop; the wicked heart will
have its own way, and it makes you God's
enemy.
III. The sinner's way is a hard way, Ibecause
he has hard wages and a dreadful end.
What are the wages? That is, what does he
get by sinning ? First : he gets had hahits. A
first sin of any sort is like the first drop of
water that leaks through a bank; the water
carries away a little grain of sand, and makes
the leak larger — then two drops can creep
through instead of one, and carry away tliree
times as much sand, and make room for four or
five drops, and so, before anybody expects it,
the whole bank falls in, and the whole flood is
let loose. Just so with sinning : the first wicked
thing of any kind that you do, swearing, or
Sabbath-breaking, or any other, may be a very
little one, but it carries away a little of your
THEHARDWAY. 21
conscience and self-respect, and makes way for a
greater sin, and that for a worse one, and so
on, till they wear a regular channel in you,
■ where the sin pours steadily on you. You may
forget it, or be ashamed of it, or deny it, or
try to stop it; but there it is, and now it is so
much easier to do the wrong thing than to keep
from it, that you are sadly discouraged and ready
to leave it so. That's a bad habit. Now a sin-
ner is a bundle of bad habits; he has habits of
not doing what he ought to do, and of doing
what he ought not to do. He has a habit of
not minding what he hears in Church — a habit
of not i^raying when he gets up in the morn-
ing, or when he goes to bed at night — a habit
of not regarding God or Christ, or heaven,
or hell, but forgetting them as if there were
no such things. He has a habit of pleasing him-
self and seeking his own interest — a habit of
thinking about his own little affairs in the world,
instead of the things that are to last for ever.
Then he may have other habits — a habit of
swearing, or Sabbath-breaking, or foolish talking;
he may be dishonest, or drunken, or passionate,
or cruel; but they all spring out of this one
thing — being a sinner; and if he gets right
there, he'll get right all the way through.
AYhat a sad sight it is, to see a man who
might be so manly and so brave against sin
and Satan, tied down by bad habits — ashamed
^2 PLANTATION SERMONS.
of tlie way lie lives and the things he does, and
yet he can't spring up and break away from
them, though he' knows they'll ruin his soul.
Those bad habits are some of the wages of sin.
Another thing you get by sinning is a hard
heart. The most beautiful thing in a little child
is its tender heart, ready to love anybody that
will be a little kind; it will love its nurse, or
its mother, or its brothers and sisters, or almost
anybody that it sees often. You can make it smile
by looking bright at it ; often you can make it
cry by frowning, and if you train it right, that
little heart will keep tender a long while;
and, as I said, it's the most beautiful thing in
the little child. When you and I were • children,
we had just such hearts ; our mother's arms were
a shelter and a joy to us — we loved everybody
that we knew, that loved us; when their faces
were dark, our hearts were heavy, and when
they were glad, we were happy. But now, how
different we are! We know God loves us, but
we don't love him; we know he frowns on our
sins, but we don't weep or tremble. That's one
of our excuses for not being Christians, that we
can't feel. And it's partly true, too; we can't
feel about God and the Lord Jesus, and sin, and
heaven as we ought. If an angel could take
your place and find himself a sinner, he would
die with shame and sorrow; but you don't die
of grief because you have grieved God; you ai^e.
T H E H A R D W A T. 23
liglit-liearted, maybe, and cheerful, and wonder
at Christians because they sometimes weep and
mourn about their sins. The Bible tells us
how the saints in heaven shout for joy when
a sinner's saved ; how they cast their golden
crowns at the Saviour's feet, and sing and praise
him for ever — how they are as happy as the
angels because they have Jesus for their shep-
herd and their friend: but if you were there
with that same heart, you wouldn't feel like
them; such joy and love as they feel couldn't
get into your heart at all, because ifs so hard.
How is it now? Do you weep for joy, and
sing and praise, when you hear that a sinner is
converted? Does it make you as happy as an
angel to love and serve the Lord ? Ah, no I
that's not the way you enjoy yourself — your
heart's too hard !
Now, I say, to get a hard heart by sinning
is very hard wages indeed. The heart's the
place for happiness, and peace, and love, not for
pride or hardness ; and just so sure as a land
where no rain falls will be a hot and thirsty
desert, with not a stream of cooling water, or a
flower, or a shady tree, just so sure a heart that
is hardened in sin will be bitter and uneasy
and heavy. What makes the difference between
an angel and a devil? The devil has a heart
as hard as rock, while the angel is always loving
and always rejoicing.
24 PLANTATION SERMONS.
Another thing we get by sinning is a troubled
conscience. There 's a something in us that writes
down all we do, whether it's good or evil; and
that stings us with shame and pain when we
do wrong. Sometimes it stings us right off,
as soon as we sin; sometimes it lays it up
against us, to make us suffer hereafter; but if
it does lay it up for another time, it keeps us
uneasy and troubled now. When you took God's
holy day for working, or fishing, or pleasure,
conscience didn't strike so hard, or speak so
loud, as to make you give it up; but just hard
enough and loud enough to spoil it all. Yery
likely you wondered what the matter was, and
why you couldn't enjoy yourself; and many
times since then, you have thought, "what is
this that spoils my pleasure, and disappoints and
troubles me? What makes my heart so heavy
and sad ? " It ^s that evil conscience laying up
your sins, and getting ready to sting you with
them. Every time you swear, or speak an
angry word, or break the Sabbath; every time
you are proud, or cruel, or passionate, or selfish;
every time you harden your heart against your
kind Saviour and the great God; every wrong
thing you do, and every right thing you won't
do, conscience writes it down, and gets her ter-
rible chains and troubles ready to frighten you
when you're sick, and to make you tremble and
mourn when you come to die. Such a con-
science is hard wages to get for sinning!
THE HARD WAY. 25
Once more, the sinner comes to a dreadful eiid;
"the wages of sin is death;'' not this first
death, when the sick and perishing body is laid
in the grave. Oh, no! it's the second death, the
woe and anguish that comes on the soul for
ever — that's the fearful thing! You know very
well that no man can describe it: it's so horri-
ble that no words can tell it all; we can only
put you in mind of it and of what the Bible
says. It tells you how you'll feel there; you'll
weep, and wail, and gnash your teeth. It tells
you who • will be with you there, the devils
and lost sinners — all who have been too wicked
to go anywhere else, will be sent to hell, and
there you must dwell with them for ever. It's
a bottomless pit, and the smoke rises up from
it continually; it's a lake that burneth with
fire and brimstone, and the lost are there in
chains and darkness for ever. There they lift
up their eyes, being in torment, and see the
holy, happy saints in heaven, always safe and
always glorious; and they beg for one drop of
water to cool their tongues, but it never comes •
they are shut up there for ever ! Oh, how they
groan and perish there! They cry, "Oh, if I
could only get one Sunday again ! if the Lord
Jesus would only call me once more! if I only
had one chance to repent and be saved I But
now it's too late, too late!"
Tell me, now, if the Bible wasn 't right, wheu
3
26 PLANTATION SERMONS.
it said, " the way of the transgressors is hard."
They are cheated into going on in sin, because
it begins easily; and so they give themselves
up to those hard masters, Satan and their
•wicked hearts; and they get those hard wages,
bad habits, hard hearts, and troubled consciences;
and they come to this awful end! Oh, why
should you go on in sin? Why should any
man, with a head and a heart, keep on griev-
ing God, and laying up trouble, and getting
ready for hell? The Lord doesn't shut you up
in sin and woe. The Bible hasn't given up
telling you of a Saviour, and a Holy Spirit,
and a way to heaven. The great Spirit of
God hasn't spread his wings, and left this
stubborn and wicked world. The judgment
day hasn't come yet, to burn up the Gospel,
and chain us down in the flames. The Judge
hasn't told us yet, to "depart, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire ! " Oh, why will we die ? Let
us remember the dear Lord Jesus now, and
believe on him. Let us pray to God to take
away our stony hearts, and forgive our sins.
Let us say, "Farewell, wicked and sorrowful
world! I'm tired of shame and sin; I take
the Lord for my portion; I look to Jesus
to save me. — Farewell, hard heart! Farewell,
death i My Eedeemer is mine, and I am
his!"
NONE RIGHTEOUS. 27
SEEMON II.
NONE RIGHTEOUS.
^^For there is not a just man on earth that doeth good and
sinneth notP — Eccl. vii. 20.
The Bible tells us a great many sad and ter-
rible things; and every day we see and feel
pain, and hear the groans of the sick and the
sorrowful ; but nothing is more dreadful than
what the text tells us. Nothing else is so shame-
ful and sad as this — all men are sinners.
Think of it! Here is a world full of people:
travel as far as you can — go through the
woods and the deserts — sail away over the
sea to the farthest islands — go north, or south,
or east, or west, and you find men everywhere,
and every man of them is a sinner. — Some are
comfortable, and some miserable ; some are savage,
and some civilized; some live in fine houses, and
some burrow in the ground; some are wise, and
many are foolish — but every one is a sinner 1
You will find a great many strange and curious
things among them ; a great many stronger, wiser,
more beautiful, more happy, than you ever dreamed
of; but the strangest thing of all, the thing the
whole wide world can 't show you, is "a just
28 PLANTATION SERMONS.
man that sinnetli not." Not one that God can
smile on, and say, "This man is like the holy
angels; this woman is fit to dwell with me in
heaven." Not one that can take any credit to
himself before God, lor anything he has done;
not one whose conscience don't accuse him and
condemn him ! Not one living man that hasn 't
been converted, can close his eyes in peace,
when his time comes to die, and say, All is well!
The whole world lieth in wickedness; it is full
of shame and trouble; it is under God's curse.
It is so vile a world, that it will have to be burnt
up to get rid of it, like a small-pox hospital. As
soon as the sick man dies or gets well, you know,
we set fire to the house and destroy it ; it is too
vile for anybody to live in. Just so with this
world : it is a hospital for sinners. God will
cure some and take them to heaven ; others will
die in sin and be lost for ever; and then God
will send fire on this ruined world and burn it
up. Sin has poisoned it so that it will never
be fit to live in again.
I. Think what a world of misery it is. The
little child just born begins its life by crying,
and I suppose everybody feels that it is just
the way such a life as this ought to begin.
Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly up :
it is just as natural for him to suff'er as for
the sparks to shoot up out of the fire. Not
one mother can save her child from pain, even
NONE RIGHTEOUS. 29
while it's a baby in her arms, much less after
it grows larger. Our teeth ache ; the wind chills
us ; the sun makes us faint with weakness and
distress. Fever finds us out; parches us with
thirsty days and weary nights ; we toss on our beds
and pine away, in spite of all that our friends
can do for us. What thousands of accidents are
happening! A tree falls on one man and
crushes his limbs; another man is thrown from
his horse, or dragged under the wheel and
mangled horribly. Fire, wind, waves, lightning
— all things — hurt and slay us. Look at the
wars that rage all over the earth; men hating
and wounding and killing one another, till fields
are soaked with blood !
How many passionate and cruel fathers there
are: yes, and mothers, too. How many children
are beaten terribly when they Ve only done a
little wrong; or perhaps they haven't done
wrong at all. How many drunken fathers and
mothers, that fight and abuse each other, and
their children besides ! How many neglect their
children — leave them to suffer with cold and
hunger; nothing to eat, and no fire, while they
go away and amuse themselves. How many men
quarrel, and do each other all the harm they
can ; rob, steal, slander, murder, because their
hearts are full of malice and revenge. So suf-
fering grows and spreads over the whole world.
And we mustn't forget what a world of toil it
so
is. Every honest man lives by hard work;
and the thief really works the hardest of all.
If we don't work the fields, nothing grows
there but weeds and briars; if we don't take
care of the cattle, nothing will be left but wild
beasts; if we don't watch over our children,
and work for them, they will perish. We have
to get all our comforts by hard work; if we
are idle, we are sure to be miserable. And yet
what a sad sight it is — a whole world worn
out with work! When we want to sit down in
peace and enjoy ourselves, behold, there is some-
thing or other that must be done, and we must
deny ourselves, and go and do it. This is just
what the Bible says: "All things are full of
labour; man cannot utter it."
Now, how comes the world to be so full of
sorrow and toil? Who is it that sends pain
and trouble? Who is mighty enough to com-
mand the winds and waves, and to hold the
storms in his hand? Who can take away the
strength of the strong man ; lay him on a bed
of pain, and keep him there ? Who can let
loose consumption, and fever, and cholera on us,
and take away a whole family or a whole na-
tion? Only God. God is good; he declares to
us that he " doth not willingly afflict the chil-
dren of men." He sends us more blessings than
we can count; and yet he racks our bodies
with pain, and tears our hearts with sorrow !
NONE K r G H T E U S. 31
He owns it I He says: "I kill and make alive:
I wound and I lieal." '' For lie maketh sore
and bindetli up ; lie woundetli and his hand
maketh whole." "Before him went the pestilence,
and burning coals went forth at his feet." So it
must be because we deserve it all, that our
great Father in heaven afflicts us. As I said
just now, we are under God's curse for sin ;
that awful curse brought down sickness and
death, and slew us. That is what the Bible
says : " By one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin ; and death passed on all men,
because all have sinned." And now the world
is just like a piece of woods : sometimes we
send and cut down a tree here and there, as
we want it; and sometimes we clear a whole
field — cut down and destroy the whole. Every
clay men die ; one here and another somewhere
else; sometimes death sweeps them away by
hundreds together. We are all condemned to
die, and sooner or later we know we must go ;
and the reason that all are condemned is, that
all are sinners.
But I can prove it in another way. I can show
you that all men in their hearts believe it. I know
they talk against it often, but their actions speak
louder than their words. Show me a man that
trusts everybody. The little child believes every
thing you tell it, for a while. It uoesn't know the
wickedness of the world, and it thinks what any-
32 PLANTATION SERMONS.
body says must be true, But how soon all that is
gone ! It begins to watch and try everybody, to
see if they can be trusted : it comes to expect that
men will say what isn't true, and do what isn't
right, when it suits them. And before we are
grown up, we know that everybody does wrong
sometimes. Now we learn that by experience;
we begin with trusting, and we end with sus-
pecting, all over the world. Isn't it so? Don't
we put locks on our chests, and locks on our
doors, and bar our windows on the inside?
We all make it a rule to be cautious with
strangers, because it is far more likely that
they will do us harm than that they'll do us
good. And this you see, shows what the whole
world's experience is — that all men are sinners.
Presently I will show you that the Bible says
so too.
II. But how came it so? How did the world
come to be wicked? Surely God didn't make
sinners ! That 's one question nobody can an-
swer without going to the Bible. There it's
all made plain: it's a sad and terrible story.
God made this great world. Before that,
there was nothing here — neither trees, nor land,
nor sea — not so much as a cloud or a blue
sky! Nothing was here but God. He is every-
where. He called it out of nothing with one
word: there it stood at his command; "He
hath made the round world so sure that it
NONE RIGHTEOUS. 33
cannot be moved." Then he brought light to
shine on it — poured off the waters from the
land and gathered them into the sea. Soon
he commanded the sun to beam out bright and
warm, while he spread the grass and flowers
and fruit trees and woods all over the land,
and created the beasts and birds, and every
other living thing, from the wild beast to the
worm on the ground. All was busy and happy :
the rivers were running down to the sea — the
sun and moon walked in brightness along the
sky — the cattle lay down in peace in the shadow
of tall trees, and the birds were singing in the
branches. That was the time, in the pleasant
afternoon, while everything was fresh and still
and happy, that the Lord God formed man out
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and man became a
living soul. Ah, if they only could have known
what man would do, what sorrow and terror
would have been there ! The birds would have
drooped and pined and flown away; the very
cattle would have sprung up and escaped for
their lives, far from such a dreadful enemy,
such a curse to the whole creation, as man is.
But there was no sign of all this misery then:
nothing was frightened or troubled when God
came down in the cool evening and put man
in his garden of Eden, and set his wife beside
him for a help and a joy for ever.
34 PLANTATION SERMONS.
What a beautiful home that was ! The breeze
blew soft and sweet over the flowers; all the
strange and wonderful creatures that God had
made, came near them and stood still — not one
was afraid of Adam then ! Eve was by his
side : the great God his Father was close by,
loving and blessing them. So the sun went
down, they slept in peace, and awoke; for God
was with them, and made them dwell in safety.
That was the first Sabbath day. How kind
God was to begin Adam's life with a Sabbath —
a day to worship and praise him I No doubt
Adam's heart was in tune that once, and full
of joy and love to the great God who was so good
to him. No doubt he knelt down on the green
grass, and clasped his hands, and raised his eyes
to see his Father's face ; and he wondered, while
he thanked the Lord, that He should take such
care for him. No doubt he promised to love
and serve God for ever ; how could he help it ?
Yes, he gave himself away to the Lord God,
to be his obedient and happy son always.
So the Lord tried him. He showed him one
tree in all the garden that he called the Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and he com-
manded Adam not to touch it or to eat of the
fruit. He even warned him what would happen
if he should break his promise — "in the day
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Very
likely Adam was shocked to hear, that perhaps
NONE RIGHTEOUS. o5
he would disobey tlie Lord God: he never
thought it could be so. Oh, if he only had taken
warning ! But he didn 't ; he went on as if he
was safe, and that ruined him.
The devil — that cruel and terrible being that
goes about even now like a roaring lion, seek-
ing whom he may devour — the devil crept into
God's garden, looking like a serpent, and went
to this same tree, and waited there till he saw
Eve. And he said to Eve, " Hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
She told him, " We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree
in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye
shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die." And the serpent said, "Ye shall
not surely die ! For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil." And when Eve saw that the tree
was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes,
and to be desired because it would make her
wise, she took of the fruit and ate, and gave
Adam, and he ate. Then Satan's work was done!
It was God's own garden, and they were God's
own children, and yet he robbed God of them
— filled their pure and holy minds with pride
and sin, and cast them down before God's angry
eye, to wither and perish in shame and woe for
ever. They heard the voice of the Lord God
36 PLANTATION SERMONS.
as he walked in the garden in the evening —
just the same time when they were first made —
but oh, how changed everything was ! Then their
souls were full of praise, and wonder, and delight ;
they could listen to his voice then, and it was
the sweetest sound to them in the whole gar-
den. Why not? He was their Father then,
and they were his dear and blessed children.
But now ! They were afraid I — hid themselves
among the trees! That tells you the whole
story : their conscience was loaded with sin ;
they had come to be disobedient, and selfish, and
miserable in that little while !
That was tlie way sin came into the world ;
the very two peoj^le that God made, though he
made them so pure and good at first, those very
ones broke his holy law and disobeyed him in
his own garden, so that he had to drive them
away. And their children were just like them.
Cain was their first son, and he was a murderer.
That's just the way men have gone on ever
since; every man is a sinner, and every man's
children are just like him. After a while the
world got so wicked, God could 'nt bear it any
longer. In his wrath he tore up the fountains
of the great deep, and broke open the windows
of heaven, and poured such a flood on the earth,
that everybody was drowned, except Noah in
the ark, and those that were put there with
him. But as soon as the flood was over, Noah
NONE RIGHTEOUS. 61
and his children began again ; wherever they
went, sin and sorrow went, and spread out like
the flood, and covered the whole world, just as it
is this day ; sin everywhere — swearing, lying,
Sabbath-breaking, wicked passions, rage, murder,
and sorrow everywhere — pain and fear, sickness
and wounds, shame and remorse — and death. Ah,
if that was all, we might try and bear it; but
the worst is to come — after death the judgment,
and after the judgment the lake of fire and
brimstone, and the worm that never dies !
III. But people sometimes think there must be
a mistake about this ; they know a great many
are wicked, but they are sure that some are good.
Of course, everybody has faults, i\\Qj don't deny
that : but they think some have only such little
faults, and are so good in other ways, that they
oughtn't to be counted among sinners.
Now the first thing I want to say about it is
this : when people talk so they contradict the Bible.
Look at that verse I began with — "There is
not a just man on earth that doeth good and
sinneth not." That was what king Solomon said,
the wisest man that ever lived. And his father,
good king David said, "There is none that doeth
good — no, not one." And Paul says ," God hath
shut all up together under sin" — that is, God
calls us all sinners. And John the Apostle,
though he was such a kind-hearted man, says the
same thing: "If we say we have no sin, we
38 PLANTATION SERMONS.
deceive ourselves, and we make God a liar.^^ Who
will dare to deny his sins after that?
The next thing is, that the best people in the
world are the very ones that call themselves sin-
ners I Isn't it so? Look round now among
all your friends, and pick out the most blameless
and holy one of all — the one you never saw
in a passion, or doing anything wrong — and
ask him if he is "a just man that sinneth
not." And just as surely as he's good, he'll
tell you he's a sinner. But surely you don't
expect to find anybody better than David, and
he cried in his prayer, " have mercy upon me,
God, and pardon mine iniquity, for it is
great," Or can you find a better man than
Paul? And yet he called himself "the chief
of sinners."
No; the reason why people think they are
not sinners when they are, is this — they don't
know what sin is. They think it is doing wrong
to men or disgracing ourselves ; but in truth
it is disobeying and forgetting God. " Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and soul and mind and strength, and thy neighbour
as thyself;" that's God's law, and every man that
ever lived has broken it, and every man alive
now is breaking it. That made David say, " If
thou, Lord, wert strict to mark iniquity, Lord,
who shall stand?" Now, when we think how
good God is, how holy and how gracious, always
NONE RIGHTEOUS. 39
loving and blessing and pitying us, isn't it
terrible to remember that the whole world for-
gets him — everybody turns his back on him,
breaks his law, rejects his gospel, and grieves
his dear Son? That bad treatment of God is
sin; and unless he changes our hearts, we are
all ungrateful, and all unbelieving — and so we
all are sinners.
Three more things I must tell you, and then
I will be done.
1. If all men are guilty alike and condemned
alike, then no man can help you out of your
trouble. Which of the** prisoners in a jail can
pardon the rest? No more can any man save
you from God's anger. You must go for mercy
to God himself. He can save you, and he alone.
2. You must begin by confessing your sin.
That was where the publican began that the
Lord Jesus told about; he stood low down in
the temple, and and didn't so much as lift up
his eyes from the ground, but struck his hand
on his heart and said, " God, be merciful to
me a sinner;" and the Lord says he went down
to his house justified — that is, he was pardoned,
and the proud Pharisee was condemned. That
was where Mary Magdalene b^gan ; she came
and kneeled down behind him, and wept so
that the tears ran down upon his feet, and
then she wiped them away with her hair. At
40 PLANTATION SERMONS.
last lie said, "Thy sins are forgiven tliee;" go
in peace.
3. You must believe in the Saviour God has
sent. God is wise and we are foolish. He is
good, and we are wicked. He is the Lord our
Father, and we are poor lost sinners, kneeling
at his feet. Now, if he looks down on us and
says, " I have provided a Saviour for you, and
he will do the whole work and set you free,"
surely we ought to say right off, " Who is he.
Lord, that I may believe on him?" And when
he points to the Lord Jesus, bleeding, dying
on the cross, and rising 'again out of the grave,
we ought to. drive away our grief and shame,
and rejoice. We ought to run right to the
Saviour, and put ourselves in his hands; we
needn't be anxious or sorrowful any more, for
lie is "the Lamb of God that taketh away the
sins of the world."
I wonder if there is anybody here to-day
with a troubled conscience and a heavy heart;
anybody tired of sin and afraid to die as he
is. Poor sinner, come to the Lord Jesus, and
beg him to save you. See how patiently he's
waiting for you, how kindly he smiles on you I
If you will only come and try him, he will say,
*'Thy faith hath saved thee — go in peace I"
THE FAITHFUL SAYING.
ERMON III.
^ '%:ffif~3::i^iTHi'UL saying.
" Tliis iif^tj^afttJiful saying and worthy of all acceptationj
that Christ Jesus came into the wor[d to save sinners." —
1 Tim. i. 15.
Many years ago, three missionaries sailed away
over the ocean, far from their homes and from
every friend but God, to a little island they had
heard of, where no man had ever preached the
gospel. It was almost as beautiful to look at
as the garden of Eden; it was covered with
green trees that bore delightful fruits — bright
little rivers ran down from^^e mountains a
few miles, and poured into the smooth clear
water of the sea. -There was no winter there;
hardly ever a \^torm of thunder and mighty
wind tore up the people's trees, or wrecked
their little boats. All looked safe and joyful,
► and lovely: but the %^Ie island was full of
sin, and wickedness, au^death. They worship-
ped idols, and even killed one another to offer
up the dead bodies to stones and huge blocks
of wood ! Often they murdered their children ;
they fought with each other with the most hor
42 PLANTATION SERMONS.
rible clubs and spears you can think of.
There was nothing so cruel, or so shameless, or
so wicked, that these people wouldn't do it.
So these missionaries, when they heard about it,
took pity on them, and went to tell them what
a Saviour God has given us, and to persuade
them to flee from the wrath to come.
For a long while, nobody minded what they
said : if the people listened a few minutes, pre-
sently they began to mock the missionaries, or
even to throw stones at them. At last one day,
they read this verse to them out of the Bible,
^•God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him
inio'ht not perish, but have everlasting life." An
old man got up and said, "Stop! read that
again!" So they read it again, "God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son." " Are
you sure of that?" he said ; ^^ God so loved the
world I " And he wept out loud, and went away
to think about it, and to wonder over it, and
then came back again and again, to beg them
to read to him that " God loved the world."
Soon he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and all his life long he kept those words in
his heart. Now, he is gone to see that dear
Saviour that God gave, and to live for ever
with him.
And I wonder, every day, that when people
hear those words, or this verse that I read just
THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 43
HOW, they don't stop me and ask me to read it
a.^-ain. ^'Did Jesus Christ come to save sinners?
Are you sure he did? Oh, what good news!"
I wonder they don 't listen, and weep, and rejoice
even while they are weeping, to hear of a Sa-
viour from heaven. But, alas! that isn't the way
men treat God's good news. They know it's
true — they can't deny it; but they care nothing
about it. They go on, after we have told them,
in the same old way, just as if it was an idle
dream ! Oh, that God would make us all hear
and remember, and believe it to-day!
I. Let me put you in mind, now, that you are
a poor lost sinner, and this news is for you.
Perhaps you are a thoughtless sinner. A great
many people never think about God and reli-
gion, and a Saviour, at all. Their hearts are full
of tliis world; they have a thousand little plans
and pleasures of their own. They live for what
they can see and taste^ and their hands can
handle. To-day's work and to-day's dinner — the
people they meet and talk to — the little accidenta
that happen, pleasant and unpleasant — the scraps
of news they hear and tell; such things as these
take up all their thoughts. Of course they hear
people talk about religion; they go to church
sometimes, or perhaps all the time, and listen a
little, here and there, to the sermon, but no-
thing sinks down into their hearts. They don 't
come away from the house of God looking grava
44 PLANTATION SERMONS.
and solemn, as if what they heard was of any
consequence. No ! You '11 see them talk, and
joke, and laugh, right there in the church door,
or on the steps, or under the trees, just as if
nothing was the matter; just as if there was
no such thing as a wicked heart, or an angry
God, or a crucified Saviour, or a burning world
of woe!
Then they go home and sleep away the blessed
Sunday afternoon, or talk it away, or dance it
away, never remembering nor caring that it is
God's holy day. Monday morning finds them
just the same people, or rather worse. They are
older and more careless: they are more guilty,
and they are in greater danger than ever before.
But they never think of that: they are too busy
with this life to think of that which is to come.
And yet that other life will come, whether they
think about it or not. Silent and steady it
comes nearer and nearer. Death comes like an
eagle, that never flaps his wing or gives a scream,
but fixes his fierce eye on some poor little
thing, and sweeps out of the sky, and fastens
his cruel claws in it, and is gone out of sight!
How foolish it is, then, not to think about our
souls in time! What would you think, if you
saw an old wreck drifting about on the sea,
and the people on it singing, and dancing, and
drinking, while it was sinking ? Suppose you
and I saw it going lower and lower every wave —
THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 45
the water creeping up — up — up — the side, inch
by inch, covering one seam after another, pouring
into every crack, and weighing it down; it
mounts up faster and faster still, but they keep
on shouting, and dancing, and reeling about the
deck ! What v/ould you say ? Wouidn 't you cry
aloud — "Look out there! you are sinking! clear
your boat and launch away before it is too
late !" Just so does God look at us, living so
careless on the borders of eternal woe ; and he
calls us loudly — again and again he calls —
" What meanest thou, sleeper? Arise, call
upon thy God !" But just as these poor drunk-
ards on the wreck miglit never heed us or
mind our warning, but keep right on with the
dance till, all at once, you hear them scream
out with a bubbling cry, as the WTCck whirls
half round and sinks down under the waves —
so, often, all God's warnings are wasted on
thoughtless sinners; and they forget them in
loving this vile world, till the day of wrath
comes and they are swallowed up for ever.
Then, oh what wouldn't they give to get back
into this world where sinners can be saved I
But it's too late!
Now, if you are a thoughtless sinner, you
are just like one of those poor foolish, ruined
fellows on the wreck; and that makes me call
to you, to tell you what a danger you're iu
46 PLANTATION SERMONS.
and to put you in mind tliat you are a poor
lost sinner.
Or you may be an anxious sinner: something
has set you to thinking about your soul. May
be you have been sick ; day after day has found
you full of pain and fever ; your strength wasted
away, and your hands grew thin and weak and
aching; you could hardly raise your head to
drink the cool water you wanted so much. The
doctor looked so gloomy, and your wife sat down
and wept with grief and weariness — everybody
seemed to pity you so, that you thought you
were going to die. Oh what a terrible thought
that was! Die! leave this world of mercy? Go
and stand before Almighty God with all your
sins on you? You had had Sundays, but you
wasted them; you had heard the gospel, but
you didn't heed it; the Lord Jesus wanted to
save you, but you forgot him. Now, you won't
dare to look in his face ; you will feel so ashamed
and guilty, if you die as you are, you will be
struck dumb before God's bar. Oh if you only
had one Sunday back ! You try to think about
religion — try to pray and repent; but you are
so weak, so full of pain, your head feels so
giddy and confused, that it's no use. Then you
begin to beg for mercy — beg God to spare
your life, and you promise him, if he will only
let you get well, that you will never rest till
you 're a Christian. And God in his* wonderful
THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 47
mercy pitied you, brought back your health and
strength, and gave you a chance to keep your
promise.
Now that you are well again, it makes you
shudder to look back and think what a risk
you ran. You feel how much better God was
to you than you deserved; and you have made
up your mind to seek religion busily till you
find it. You go to prayer-meetings; you come
to church and try to listen to what the minister
says; you kneel down and pray, night and
morning, and you try to keep thinking about
God, and the Bible, and the Saviour. All this
time your heart is heavy, and sad, and guilty;
you feel discouraged and helpless ; sometimes you
think it is all useless trying to be a Christian
for God will never hear you. Mind! you mustn't
believe that — God will hear you if you seek
him with all your heart. It is the devil and
your wicked heart trying to deceive you. God
says, " Him that cometh unto me, I will in no
wise cast out." Keep on then — never give it
up! What does the hymn say?
" I can but perish, if I go :
I am resolved to try j
For if I stay awayj I know
I shall for ever die."
If you are an anxious sinner, still you are a
sinner, and if Christ doesn 't save you, you will,
be a lost sinner.
48 PLANTATION SERMONS.
Or perhaps it wasn 't sickness that set you
thinking; maybe it was the death of somebody
that you loved. Perhaps it was your child that
grew sick, or met with some accident, and was
brought home bleeding and dying. Oh, how
you watched over it — grieved about its suffer-
ing almost as much as about its dying — you
tried everything you could think of; you begged
for advice and for help. When you lay awake
at night, and heard the dear little child moan-
ing and crying — tossing on its bed and begging
for water — your heart broke with trouble.
You couldn 't give up your child to God : you
could not say, Thy will be done! And at last,
when the poor little breast stopped heaving,
and the little eye that loved you could'nt shine,
or look again ; when they took it, cold and
heavy — dead — from your arms, to lay it in the
grave, you wanted to die and follow it. You
could 'nt pray ; your heart was too stormy with
sorrow and anger to look up to God's throne.
How lonely you felt — and how guilty I
When the first agony of it was over, so you
could think again, you thought what an awful,
what a terrible being, God must be. When he
saw it w^as right ,to take your child away,
nothing could turn him; all your crying and
grieving could not bring one more breath into
its body. His plan went on, and his will was
done, just as quick and certain as if you had
THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 49
■wanted it. And you remembered that it always
will he so; if all heaven and earth, and hell,
should join together against him, they could'nt
keep back his plan, or cross his will, one minute I
Then you thought, ''This God is angry with me
— I am a sinner ! if I die so, I shall be lost I
What must I do to be saved?" And then you
tried to seek God, but you did'nt find him.
You have been trying ever since to be a Chris-
tian, but peace and pardon are hid out of your
sight. Now you wonder if you ever will be
saved; you can't give it up, but you are afraid
there is very little chance for such a poor sin-
ner as you. You are an anxious sinner; but
remember, Jesus Christ came to save sinners ; if
you get discouraged, and turn back to the world,
you will be a lost sinner.
Or it maybe that while everything was going
on smoothly — no sickness or sorrow to frighten
you, or call you away from this world, God's
Holy Spirit came down and woke up your con-
science, and made you feel ashamed and afraid
because of sin. How many sins you remember!
things that you had forgotten for years before
start up all at once, and condemn you; you try
to shake them off and forget them again, but
they stick fast, and come back in crowds, and
frighten you, looking so evil and terrible. Then
you try to think up the old excuses that used
to ease your mind, but they look poor and
50 PLANTATION SERMONS.
foolish enough now; they don't help yon at all.
You go out among your friends, and talk and
laugh as hard as you can, hoping to forget these
thoughts ; but all the while conscience is knock-
ing at your heart, and saying. Guilty! guilty!
guilty! You turn away, feeling heavier than
ever; you don't want to repent and seek God,
and yet you can't forget him. "What shall you
do? As you stand and think about it, maybe
in the dark night, you look up, and remember
that tremendous God! He made you — he com-
manded you to believe on his Son — he offered
you mercy — he waited on you a long time —
he is looking at you now, and you are sure he
is angry with you. You think it will be only
a little while longer, and then he will stoop
down with his sword in his hand, and cut you
off. No wonder you tremble and mourn.
But after you have resisted the Holy Spirit
as long as you can, you begin to think you never
shall have peace again, except in religion, and
you resolve to be a Christian. But now you
find it isn 't so easy coming to God. You resolve
to pray, but your thoughts fly off; your heart
feels as hard as a rock. Just now, you thought
God was angry with you; now, you think he
doesn 't hear you. You find you are a poor,
helpless creature, unworthy of God's pity, and
sure to be lost unless he pities you. So
you weep, and pray, and give it up, aiid try
THE FAITHFUL SATING. 51
again; and yet you are an anxious, unpardoned
sinner.
Once more. Perhaps, instead of being a thought-
less or an anxious sinner, you are a hardened
sinner.
"God's Spirit will not always strive
With hardened, self-destroying man."
Your anxious days are past and gone. Your
conscience warned you, but you made excuses,
and put off thinking about salvation for another
time. The Lord Jesus invited you, but you
loved sin too well to mind him. God called
you, but you turned away to spend a little
more time with this sinful world. The Holy
Spirit touched you, but you hardened your heart
and went on in sin. Now, all those solemn
feelings are gone; your heart isn't light and
careless as it once was, but it has no feeling.
You can hear the most solemn sermons, or
even verses out of the Bible, and mind it no
more than the idle wind. When you are sick,
you feel rather serious about it, but not fright-
ened, not prayerful, as you were before. Even
when friends come and talk to you plainly about
your soul, you can laugh it off, and live right
on with that same hard, unfeeling heart. You
are not happy, though ; oh no ! There is a dull
pain in your spirit that nothing will cure. If
you get money, it don't comfort you; if your
52 PLANTATION SERMONS.
home is ever so pleasant, you can't enjoy it;
your sleep isn't sweet, and your days are weary.
What is the matter ? What spoils your peace ?
It is tlie voice of your conscience, that you
buried in folly and sin, crying out from the
ground, accusing you, and telling you, Prepare
to meet thy God I
But you don't understand that; you haven't
found out what troubles you so. Nobody else
thinks you are in trouble; nobody sees into
your case but God: he knows that you are
hardening your heart, and preparing to be lost.
Soon, if you go on so — soon God will grow
weary of your hardness and impenitent heart,
and take you away in his wrath. But yet
there is time, if you would only hear his voice,
and not harden your heart. If you will not take
warning, you are a lost sinner.
Now, let all listen! Let me tell you this
"faithful saying" once again — Jesus Christ came
into the world to save sinners. All kinds of
sinners — thoughtless, anxious, hardened — that
dear Saviour came to save all. Hear what he
says: " Whosoever will, let him come;" "and him
that cometh I will in no wise cast out." ^^ In no
wise,^^ that is, not at all — for no reason, nor
for any sin, nor on any account whatever. Not
one poor sinner ever went to him and was driven
away!
Have you been careless all your days, merry-
THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 53
hearted, impenitent, in spite of all God's warn-
ings? Death has come, right by your side,
struck down your friends, and frightened you
for a day or so; but you have gone back to
the old heedless ways again. And you think,
may be, that you can't be such a great sinner,
for you never meant any harm.
I had a dear friend once, who was taken very
sick ; we watched him, and prayed for him, day
after day ; oh, how anxious and sorrowful we
were ! But the most pitiful thing of all was,
that he would never own he was sick. While
we pitied him, and tried to help him, he con-
tradicted us and tried to hinder us. Do you
think that cured him ? Did it make him any
better to deny that he was sick ? Day after
day he sunk down until he died. Just so it
will be with careless sinners; their thinking
that they are in no danger won't help them.
God says, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die;
and the wicked shall be turned into hell, and
all the nations that forget God." That's jast
what the careless sinners do — they forget God.
And oh, if they forget their Saviour, too, what
good will it do them, if he did come " to save
sinners ? "
But remember, you needn't wait to be an
anxious sinner, before you seek the Lord. It
isn't being frightened that helps a man, it's
54 PLANTATION SERMONS.
being in earnest. What a sliame and a folly it
is for men to waste all their care on such
a world as this, and plunge into the grave
with all their sins on them! Listen, poor sin-
ners! Death and judgment are coming, as sure
as to-day's sun will set. Eepent, and believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ; for he came to save
sinners.
But above all, the Lord Jesus pities them
that feel their sin ; he begs the weary and heavy
laden, the hungry and thirsty — all that are
heartsick and miserable, he begs them to come
to him. Many a sinner feels so lonely and
helpless with his sins, that religion would be like
cool water to a man dying with thirst; so the
Lord offers him "living water." What a pity
men should weep and mourn, grieve and tremble,
right at the Saviour's feet, just as if he wasn't
ready to help us! Suppose one of those blind
men that lived when Jesus Christ was here in
the world, instead of crying out, as they did,
"Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me,"
had thrown himself down in the road, weeping
and groaning, " Oh, I'm blind, I'm blind! I never
shall see !" till the Lord was gone ; how foolish
and wicked he would have been ! But that 's
just the way sinners do; instead of kneeling at
the Saviour's feet and praying, "Lord, thou didst
come to save sinners, oh save me !" they weep,
THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 55
aud suffer, and fear, without believing, and with-
out praying, till it's too late. Try him; lift up
your hands and cry aloud, " Lord, save, or I
perish!" and he will answer, "Why are ye fear-
ful, ye of little faith? Be of good cheer, thy
sins are forgiven thee."
** Mercy, thou son of David !"
Thus the blind Bartimeus prayed,
" Others by thy word are saved,
Now to me afford thine aid."
Many for his crying chid him.
But he called the louder still ;
Till the gracious Saviour bid him,
" Come, and ask me what you will."
Money was not what he wanted,
Tho' by begging used to live ;
But he asked, and Jesus granted
Alms which none but he could give.
" Lord, remove this grievous blindness,
Let my eyes behold the day !"
Straight he saw, and won by kindness,
Followed Jesus in the way.
Oh ! methinks, I hear him praising,
Publishing to all around :
** Friends, is not my case amazing ?
"What a Saviour I have found !
" Oh ! that all the blind but knew him.
And would be advised by me !
Surely they would hasten to him :
He would cause them all to see."
66 PLANTATION SERMONS.
SERMON lY.
WHO IS JESUS?
" Who is he, Lord, thai I might believe on himf^ — John ix. 36.
How I wish every poor sinner would ask
that question with' all his heart, as that man
did ! He was a blind man, born blind. As the
Lord Jesus was passing by, he saw him and
cured him of his blindness. Such a thing never
was heard of before, that a man who was
born blind should be cured; but nothing was
too hard for the Lord. Then, because this poor
fellow was so thankful for being cured, and
wouldn't call that great Saviour a sinner —
wouldn't despise and hate him as the cruel
Jews did — they hated him, too, and cast him
out of their company, and out of the church.
Lonely and troubled enough he was that day !
But there was something he minded more
than all the neglect of the Jews, that was, his
sins. No doubt, God's goodness in curing his
blindness, brought hiui to feel ashamed and sorry
for his sins ; and then he longed for a Saviour
more than for earthly friends and comforts.
So, when the Lord Jesus came back and asked
WHOISJESUS? 57
him, "Dost tliou believe on the Son of GodV"
that was the very word he wanted to hear?
and he cried out, "Who is he. Lord, that I might
believe on him?" And as soon as the Lord an-
swered, " It is he who talketh with thee," he
said, " Lord, I believe," and worshipped him.
Now, I want to tell you who the Saviour is,
that you may believe on him, and be saved. I
want every poor sinner to listen with all his
heart, and see if Jesus Christ isn't the very
Friend he needs — just such a kind, and holy,
and mighty Saviour, as we want.
I. Who was Christ at the very first? In the
beginning he was God. When this world was
made, he was there. He spake those wonderful
words, "Let there be light" — and there was
light. He was the Creator: "All things were
made by him." When you see the sun, or the
beautiful moon : when the gentle breezes blow,
or the solemn thunder rolls over your head :
when the flowers are springing up, or the leaves
falling off the trees, or the rivers are shining,
or the clouds flying in the blue sky: whatever
you see or hear, remember, " My Saviour made
them all!"
He watched over the Jews in ancient time,
and saved them from the cruel king that wanted
to kill them. He opened a path for them right
through the sea; piled up the water like stone
on the right h^nd and on the left, and brought
58 PLANTATION SERMONS.
tliem throu gl) in safety. Then, when their enemieg
tried to follow them, he poured back the mighty
waters, and drowned them in the sea. Forty
years he went with them and took care of them
in the wilderness : wherever they went, and
however wicked they were, there was that pillar
of cloud every day — tall, and dark, and still ;
every night, there was the pillar of fire ! When
they were ready to die because they couldn 't
find water to drink, he made it spring out of the
rock like a river ; and because they had no-
thing to eat, he rained down bread from heaven
every morning, enough for everybody — not a little
child was left hungry !
And yet the Jews were wicked and disobedient
continually. They found fault with him, and
wouldn't believe his word, or bear with his
will. They despised the bread that came down
from heaven ; they quarrelled with Moses ; they
broke the law. But the Lord never forsook
them for that. Sometimes he had to punish
them, they were so wicked ; but as soon as they
repented, he forgave them freely. So he showed
them, even then, that though he hated their sins,
he loved poor sinners.
And so things went on for hundreds of years.
He brought the Jews into their own country,
and took care of them — punished them when,
they sinned, but watched over them all the time,
and saved them wonderfully, as soon as they
WHoisjESusr 59
repented. All this time, too, he was taking care
of the whole world. Every star in the sky,
every wind that blows, every drop of rain, every
soul of man, belongs to him; and he is so miglity,
and so wise, and so good, that he never forgets
one. He is never weary of saving, and blessing,
and loving. In the beginning, our Saviour was
God.
II. What was he next? A little child! In
the night when he was born, the angels broke
out of the darkness, singing songs of joy: ''Glory
to God in the highest! on earth peace, good
will toward men ! " Now, he is called the Son
of God; he had no father but God. And yet
he didn't come into the world like a king,
though it is his own world, that he made. His
mother was poor, and he had no place to lay
his head, but in a manger. The shepherds that
heard the angels sing, and the wise men that
saw his star, followed it, and brought presents
for him, and found him there, close by the horses
and cattle. But when they brought him into
the temple, according to the law, behold, old
Simeon the prophet took him in his arms, and
rejoiced over him ; he was ready to die now,
for he had seen the Saviour, though as yet he
was but a little child.
Then the cruel king of the Jews got jealous
and afraid of the little child — afraid he would
come to be king some day, and drive him out,
60 PLANTATION SERMONS.
and he determined to kill him. He sent hia
soldiers to murder every little babj in Bethle-
hem, that was under two years old. He did'nt
spare one of them! — But God took care of his
Son. Long before the terrible soldiers got there,
the Lord Jesus and his mother were safe in
another country.
And I think this is a very wonderful and
beautiful thing about our Saviour, that though
he was the mighty God, yet he became a real
little child. So he knows by experience just
how little children feel. He knows just how a
boy feels when he minds his mother, or when
he is a good brother, or when he bears disap-
pointments or pain. As he grew up, he was
hamble and poor, and worked hard, but he never
sinned. Though there were so many that hated
him afterwards, they never could find any wicked
thing to accuse him of, out of all those long
years. Spotless and pure, gentle and kind, and
obedient, he lived as quietly in Nazareth as if
he was only a man, until he was thirty years
old.
in. And what next? Jokn the Baptist came
back from the desert where he was hid, and
began to preach to the Jews, " Repent." And
when they repented and confessed their sins,
he baptized them in the river. Great crowds
came there, and he warned and rebuked them
all. But behold, while he was busy with the
WHOISJESUS? 61
sinners, the Lord Jesus came to him, that never
sinned ! John felt asliamed to baptize the Sa-
viour, who was so much greater than he was;
but the Lord commanded him to do it, and he
obeyed. Then, as they came up from the water,
the Holy Spirit came down and rested on the
Lord's head, and God spake out of heaven, say-
ing, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased."
And so the Saviour went on, living the life
of a kind and holy man, and doing the wonders
of a mighty God. He was tempted by the devil,
but he never sinned. He was mocked and slan-
dered, and persecuted by the fierce and wicked
Jews, and he paid them back with wise teach-
ing, and blessings, and love. He healed them
when they were sick. Even the vile and horri-
ble lepers that were forbidden to come near
anybody, for fear of giving them the leprosy,
even they came and kneeled down and begged
him to cure them, and he did it. Worse than
that, the vilest sinners, that everybody despised,
and drove away, tasted his love; if they only
came to him, he would talk so graciously, and
bless them so freely, that their hard hearts were
melted, and their sins were forgiven, and they
were saved.
All this while he was so brave and noble,
that no matter how strong and fierce the people
were that came to him, he would tell them all
6
62 PLANTATION SERMONS.
tlieir wickedness, and command them to repent.
If they grew sorry and gave np tlieir sins, then
he blessed them, and loved them like a good
shepherd taking care of his lambs. If they got
ever so foolish and unfaithful after that, he never
grew weary of them; he forgave them, and helped
them all his life. But if they refused and dis-
obeyed him, and tried to lead the poor people
into sin, then he exposed them, and taught the
people not to mind them, but to do right and
fear God, and he would save them. Oh, how he
encouraged them, and cheered them on to be
brave and good! He said: "Fear not them who
kill the body, and have no more that they can do :
fear Him, who can cast both soul and body into
hell ; yea, I say unto you, fear him ! "
And he did just as he said ; though they tried
to kill him, and took up stones to stone him,
he never took back a word, or feared the face
of man. And he never got bitter and passionate
like them; he could turn round, after facing all
their rage, and stretch out his hand to some
poor sinner, and forgive and heal him.
But the more glorious he was, the more the
rulers and great men hated him. If the poor
people hadn't loved and admired him so, they
would have torn him in pieces. But what could
they do? If they followed him by hundreds
and thousands into the desert, without bread to
eat he took some little loaves and fishes, and
WHO IS JESUS? 63
fed them all. If they listened to him, he taught
them so wisely and beautifully that they couhiirt
find fault, even though they didn't believe wliat
he said. He gave back eyes to the blind, and
made the lame walk, and raised the very dead
out of their graves ! Wicked as they were, they
had to wonder at him, and to confess that " He
did all things well." When he calmed the raging
sea, and stopped the mighty winds, and drove the
devils out of men, with a word, no wonder they
trembled and were afraid!
But they grew more and more mad with rage
against him; they envied him, because, though he
was a poor man, he was so famous, and the poor
and troubled loved him so well. " Don't you see,"
they said to one another, " don't you see the whole
world is gone after him ? " They couldn 't forgive
him for being so good, and they banded together
to take his life.
lY. And now his last days were coming very
near. He had preached all over the country, and
chosen his disciples, and given all the Jews a
chance to believe on him. Now it was all over,
and he was ready to lay down his life for his peo-
ple, and for the sins of the whole world.
He called the Apostles together and taught
them to eat the Lord's Supper in remembrance of
him, so that the broken bread and the wine poured
out, would put them in mind how his body was
broken on the cross, and his blood shed, for us.
64 PLANTATION SERMONS.
Then he took the three that he trusted the most —
Peter, James and John — and went into a garden
where he loved to pray. He left them in the outer
part of the garden, and went in among the trees,
to pray once more before he died ; and oh, what an
agony came on him ! Some terrible thing he was
afraid of, though he wasn 't afraid to die : and he
prayed, over and over again, that his Father would
take away that cup from him, if it was possible.
He plead so hard, that great drops of blood came
on his forehead and fell on the ground : and yet he
said, " Father, not my will, but thine be done."
At last, the angels of God came down and strength-
ened him.
Then came Judas, one of his twelve chosen
friends, with a crowd of Jews and soldiers, to
seize on him and carry him away. They dragged
him first to one judge and then to another and
another: and though the last judge tried a little
to save his life, it was all in vain. The people
were crazy with passion; they shouted, "Crucify
him ! crucify him ! " until they got him condemned.
Then they bound our dear Saviour and beat him ;
they mocked him with a rich dress and a crown of
thorns ; they spit on him, all bleeding and weary
as he was ; and when they were tired of their cruel
sport, they put the heavy beams of timber on his
shoulder that were to be his own cross, and tliey
made him carry them till he fell down fainting
under the load.
WHO IS JESUS? 65
What a siglit that wasl Far off down the
street the Apostles were looking on, afraid to
stand bj their Lord or help him. Close by were
the women that loved him so faithfully — Mary
his mother, Mary the mother of James and
Joses; Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Salome.
They were weeping and sobbing — their hearts
were breaking with sorrow to see him treated
so. Then the Lord Jesus, that bore all the
cruelty without one word, patient as a lamb,
spoke to them, and told them not to weep for
him. Even then he was thinking about their
troubles that were coming, and not about his
own. At last the soldiers found a man named
Simon, and they made him carry the cross to
Calvaiy.
There they nailed his hands and his feet to
the cross; they could wring his heart with
agony, but they couldn't stop his pity. He only
said — "Father, forgive them! They know not
what they are doing." In the hot sun, dying with
thirst, and fever, and pain, he said not one un-
kind word. He Was dying for sinners; that was
his comfort. He gave his mother to John the
Apostle to take care of. Then he said, " I thirst,"
and they gave him vinegar to drink, while the
Jews mocked him again and again.
But oh, the worst was to come — he was to
die like a sinner, though he v/as so perfectly
holy ; and God, his Father, hid his face from
him. Then his strong heart broke at last, and
66 PLANTATION SERMONS.
he cried aloud, " Mj God! my God! why hast
thou forsaken me?" Three hours that awful
agony went on, and then he cried out again, " It
is finished," and he died. The sun was hid, and
the rocks burst open, and the dead came out of
their graves.
To make sure that he was dead, a soldier
took his spear and ran it into the Lord's side,
and the blood and water poured out. So his
body was broken and his blood shed, just as he
said. He who had loved us all his life, died
that cruel death for us. What a horrible thing
must sin be, when God's own Son had to die,
before he could save us ! But now he has died,
he can forgive sin : '' his blood cleanseth from
all sin." Will you trust him? If he wants to
save you, will you let him do it? Say, poor
sinner, " dost thou believe on the Son of God ? "
Isn't he the very Saviour we need? Isn't
he mighty enough? He is God. And meek
enough? He was a little child. And his love
great enough? He refused not to die for us.
And his ransom rich enough? The blood of the
Son of God ! Oh believe on him and be saved I
A RISEN SAVIOUR. 67
SERMON Y.
A RISEN SAYIOUR.
For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also re-
ceived, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures ; and that he was buried, and that he rose the
third day, according to the Scriptures. — 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4.
So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received
up into heaven, and sat down on the right hand of God. —
Mark xvi. 19.
To-DAT I must tell jou the story of the resur-
rection; that is, I must tell you how the Lord
Jesus rose from the dead. He always said he
would rise again after he was crucified; the dis-
ciples used to wonder what that " rising from the
dead " could mean ; and they never understood it
till it was done.
Then they remembered the words he had spoken
about it, and believed on him, that he was the Son
of God, the Saviour of the world. Dying for us
wasn't enough to save us ; he had to take away the
sting of death, and break through the grave, and
go up to heaven; and then his work of atonement
was finished.
But you must remember that he was really deaa.
68 PLANTATION SERMONS.
He was worn out with pain and persecution before
the J nailed his hands and feet to the cross : and
then he was kept there in agony for six long hours,
till he died. And to make sure work with him,
they pierced his side with a spear, and those that
stood by saw the water and the blood pour out,
which showed that he was dead indeed. There
was no chance for any mistake, or for anybody to
deceive the rest. If anything is plain, and certain,
and true, it is that the Lord Jesus Christ died for
our sins, according to the Scriptures
Now the Lord Jesus had a rich friend named
Joseph; and Joseph had a garden close by Calvary,
where the cross was; and in this garden he had
dug a large tomb out of the solid rock; large
enough for himself and all his family. Though
Joseph had never been very bold to follow the
Lord and confess him before men, while he was
alive, yet now he was gone, he went right to Pilate
the governor, and begged for the dead body of
Jesus. Pilate wondered to hear he was dead so
soon, for often people lived a day or two on the
cross : he didn't know yet about their piercing him
with the spear ; but he sent and asked the captain
if he was already dead. And when he found it
was so, he gave Joseph the Saviour's body.
Then those faithful friends that had stayed by
him to the last when almost everybody was
frightened away, climbed up and loosened those
poor, torn hands and feet from the spikes, and
A RISEN SAVIOUR. 69
took down the "broken body" gently from the
cross. They wrapped a linen cloth round it, and
wound up spices with it, and put another cloth
round his head: that was the Jews' way of
burying; and then they laid it in the tomb that
Joseph had made for himself. Nobody had ever
been put there before ; the Lord's grave received
him, and they rolled a great stone to the door,
so that it would be safe till after the Sabbath.
But though his friends didn't think about his
rising from the grave, his enemies remembered
it. They put Pilate in mind, and warned him
that his disciples might come and steal the body,
and say he had risen : so he gave them a guard
of soldiers, and let them seal up the stone, so
that if it was moved at all, they would know
it. Then the foolish, wicked Jews thought they
were safe; they had tried him, and killed him,
and fastened up his tomb! But God says the
wrath of man shall praise him, and so it did
very soon.
All this I have been telling you happened
on Friday; then came Saturday, the Jews' Sab-
bath; all was quiet that day. Sunday morning,
as soon as the day began to break, those same
women who had been true to him when his
chosen followers forsook him and fled, Mary the
mother of Joses, Mary Magdalene, and Salome,
came out to the tomb to put stronger and
sweeter spices round the body, that it mightn'^
70 PLANTATION SERMONS.
decay; for they hadn't time to finish it on
Friday. As they were going along, all at once
they remembered that great stone at the door;
how could they get it rolled away? They didn't
like to turn back to call the disciples; I sup-
pose they were afraid the Jews would notice it,
and stop them; so they went on, hoping, per-
haps, that the soldiers would help them: for these
poor heathen soldiers didn't hate the Lord Jesus
as his own people did.
At any rate, they went on; and behold, there
were no soldiers there, and no stone at the door!
As soon as Mary Magdalene saw that, she turned
and ran back to where John lived in his own house,
and Peter with him, saying, " They have taken
away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we
know not where they have laid him!" She never
thought of anything but that; his enemies had
done some new wickedness and cruelty. They
ran out to the sepulchre — John ran first, then
Peter, then Mary. But before they got there, the
other women stooped and looked into the tomb,
but the body wasn't there. Suddenly they saw
the two angels that had been sitting there all
the time, one in the tomb, and one on the great
stone that was rolled away from the door. The
angels said : " Why seek ye the living among the
dead ? he is not here ; he is risen, as he told
you."
As they ran back to tell this wonderful news
A RISEN SAVIOUR. 71
to the disciples, in the room where tliej used
to meet, behold Jesus himself met them, and
said, "All hail!" If their hearts were full of
" fear and great joy" before, how they must have
rejoiced and trembled now! No wonder they
fell down at his feet and worshipped him !
Then he sent them with a message to his disci-
ples; and what do you think he called them,
those unworthy and fearful men, who forsook him
in trouble, and left him to his enemies? Breth-
ren! "Go, tell my brethren that they go into
Galilee, and there shall they see me." Some
were to see him before then; but all were to
meet him on a certain mountain there.
The women went and carried his message,
but nobody believed them yet. While they were
gone, John and Peter, and Mary, came to the
tomb. John got there first ; and when he saw
the door open, he stood still, amazed and won-
dering. So Peter ran by him and went in, and
John followed him. There were the clothes, not
torn off and thrown down, as if there was any
confusion or hurry, but carefully folded up —
the large ones by themselves, and the napkin,
which was round his head, by itself. Peter only
wondered at it all; but John began to guess
the truth, and to believe that Christ was risen
from the dead. So. they went back home, full
of their own thoughts, and never remembering
poor Mary that was weeping by the grave.
72 PLANTATION SERMONS.
Ah, they might forget her, but the dear Lord
didii 't forget ! He let them go back in their
wonder and unbelief, and he came to comfort
Mary in her sorrow. Just like him ! To pity
the broken in heart and bind up their wounds,
is his own work. First, the angels showed them-
selves to her, and asked, "Why weepest thou?"
She was too much grieved to be frightened; she
answered : " Because they have taken away my
Lord, and I know not where they have laid him."
Before she could speak again, she heard some
one walking behind her; she turned round and
looked, but she didn't see who it was. — Even
when he asked her, " Woman, why weepest thou?
whom seekest thou? "she didn't know him — she
thought it was the gardener ! "Sir," she said, "if
thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast
laid him, and I will take him away." — Once more
he spoke: — "Mary!" Ah, she knows him now.
"My master!" And in her fear that he would
vanish again, and she should lose him, she ran
to fold his feet in her arms. But he told her
she need not be afraid: his time to go up into
heaven wasn't come. "Touch me not, for I am
not yet ascended to my Father ; but go to my
brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my
Father, and your Father ; to my God, and your
God." — That was to encourage them; to let
them see that he didn 't despise and disown
them, for all their unfaithfulness.
A Ft I S E N S A V I U R. 73
So Mary Magdalene went back, carrying the
^me message with the other women ; and " they
told these things to the Apostles. But their words
seemed unto them as idle tales, and they believed
them not."
Two of the disciples went out that same day to
a place some seven or eight miles off, called Em-
maus. He joined them on the road, and they
didn 't know him at first ; but when they sat down
at supper, and he blessed it for them, just as he
always did before he died, they knew him; but
he vanished away out of their sight. They started
up and went back to Jerusalem on foot as they
came; but before they got there he showed himself
to Simon. While they were talking about it, he
stood there, right among them, and said : " Peace
be with you!" And when they believed not yet
for joy, that it was really the Lord Jesus, he did
eat and drink, and let them take his hands in their
hands, and make sure that it was no spirit, but
their own dear Lord.
All the Apostles were there, this time, except
Thomas, and he would not believe on their word ;
he must see for himself. He said: "Except I put
my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my
hand into his side, I will not believe." But the
next Sunday night Christ appeared again, and said
to Thomas : " Reach hither thy finger, and beliold
my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust
it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing."
7
74 PLANTATION SERMONS.
Wlien Thomas saw how the Lord knew every word
he said, he didn't wait to feel the print of the
nails; he cried out : " My Lord and my God ! "
Then the Apostles went away to Galilee, as he
told them ; and no doubt they carried his message
to all the believers in that country, to meet him at
a certain mountain such a day. One night, while
they were waiting for him, they went fishing in the
lake, just as they used to before they ever saw
him — just as they were doing when he first called
Peter and Andrew, James and John. All that
night they worked with their nets and caught no-
thing — just like the other time. In the morning
he was on the shore — but they didn't know who
he was — and told them again: " Cast on the right
side of the boat, and ye shall find." They did so,
and then they couldn 't draw up the net for the
multitude of the fishes! That was enough for
John and Peter ; John cried out : " It is the Lord ! "
and Peter plunged into the sea and swam to his
Master's feet.
Now the reason for the Lord's coming there that
morning, was to put Peter back among the Apos-
tles. You know that he was the man who denied
his Lord three times — cursed, and swore he didn't
know him ! Of course, if the thing had been left
so, whenever trouble rose among the Apostles,
they might have turned on poor, guilty Peter, and
said : " You have no business here ; you denied the
Lord." So the Lord Jesus said to him ; ^' Simon,
A RISEN SAVIOUR. 75
son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? " He answered :
''Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee."
Jesus said: "Feed my lambs." This he did three
times, just as Peter denied him three times ; and
then he said: "Follow me.'' That was to be
Peter's business all his life. And he did follow
him, and died on a cross at last just as his Lord
and Master did.
Then they went to this mountain in Galilee,
where more than five hundred people were gathered
together, waiting to see him. Nearly all of them
believed on him, but some were too hard-hearted
and unbelieving ; they wouldn 't acknowledge him
even when they saw him ! And he gave the Apos-
tles their charge before all the people — told them
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature, and he would be with them to the
end. So then all the believers saw that these
eleven Apostles were to be their teachers and
rulers in the church, and that all were to honour
and help them. Then he told the Apostles to go
back to Jerusalem, and he rose up and vanished
out of their sight again.
Once more he met them in Jerusalem. He led
them out of the city, over the same ground where
they had gone together so often. There was the
garden of Gethsemane, where he prayed, and sweat
great drops of blood — where Judas kissed him and
betrayed him — where the soldiers seized him, and
bound him, and led him away to die. There was
76 PLANTATION SERMONS.
the Mount of Olives, where he wept over the lost
and wicked city, and where he told them the signs
of his coming, and of the end of the world. Xo
doubt they remembered it all ; now it was all over,
and they should never see him in this world again !
He led them out as far as Bethany, where Mary
and Martha lived, and Lazarus, that he raised from
the dead. There he stretched out his hand and
blessed them ; and he rose up from among them,
and a bright cloud swept down from heaven and
received him out of their sight. And while their
dear Friend and Master was soaring away from
them, and they stood looking up after him, two
angels stood by them and said, "Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have
seen him go into heaven." That was the end of
his strange and hard and painful life in this world.
He was born, was a child — a boy — a man;
preached the gospel, cast out devils, raised the
dead; was despised of men — was crucified, dead,
and buried. The third day he rose again, and
after forty days he ascended to his Father, and our
Father, to his God and our God.
Now I have three very short and simple things
to say about it, and then I will be done.
1. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ is not dead
novj. " He was dead, and is alive again." No
coffin or grave holds him; "he ever liveth." We
A RISEN SAVIOUR. 77
can pray to liim, and trust him, and go to him, as
a living friend. He sees and hears and loves us,
just as he did before he died on the cross.
2. He hasnH left us and broken off with us^ hy
ascending into heaven. "He ever liv^eth to make
intercession for us ;'^ that means, to pray for us.
When we sin against God, and repent, and ask
him to forgive us, our Saviour takes it up; shows
his wounded side and says, " Father, forgive
them ! " And the Bible tells us that the Father
heareth him always; when he prays for us, God
forgives us.
3. He is coming back to this world, but not to
.be a Saviour again; that is all done and finished,
for ever. Not to be a Saviour again; to be our
judge. Every eye shall see him, even they that
pierced him; and the people of this world shall
mourn because of him. All the dead shall be
raised, and ihh Lord will come in terrible glory
and might, and all the holy angels with him. The
evil world shall take fire and burn up ; the heavens
shall roll ayay with a great noise. The wicked
*' shall go away into everlasting punishment, but
the righteous into life eternal." Oh dying sinners,
prepare — prepare to meet your God!
78 PLANTATION SERMONS.
SERMON yi.
BELIEVE AND BE SAVED.
ieve on the Lord Jesus Ch
be saved. — Acts xvi. 31.
You know, now, who the Lord Jesus Christ is,
and what he has done for us. He is the Mighty
God, living and reigning for ever ; he was a weak
and dying man, who went about doing good and
preaching the gospel, and at last laid down his life
for us ; now he is risen from the dead and gone to
heaven, to his Father's right hand ; there he hears
poor sinners when they cry, and saves all who
come unto him. That was the Lord's work, and he
did it so well, and he was such a glorious Saviour
himself, that if you didn 't know anything about it,
only what he was and what he did, you would
surely say: "All the world must be saved. How
can anybody be lost, with such a kind and mighty
Redeemer?"
But, alas, we know better; we know a great
many sinners harden their hearts against the great
God and his Son Jesus Christ; they live in sin,
and they die in despair. They know, and we
know, that they are gone to meet a just and angry
BELIEVE AND BE SAVED. 79
judge; that their wickedness has turned the very
Lord that loved them into a terrible enemy, and
that he will drive them out into darkness, where
there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of
teeth ! Many sinners perish so, but not all. We
see some try to serve the Lord while they live, and
die in peace when they come to die. They are
glad to die ! They feel that heaven is their home,
and they long to be there. They can sing as
they die :
•* I'm fettered and chained up in clay,
I struggle and pant to be free,
I long to be soaring away,
My God and my Saviour to see !
'* I want to put on my attire,
Washed white in the blood of the Lamb ;
I want to be one of your choir,
And tune my sweet harp to his name.
" I want, oh, I want to be there.
Where sorrow and sin bid adieu ;
Your joy and your friendship to share ;
To wonder and worship with you!"
Now, what makes the difference between those
that are saved and those that are lost ? Why does
the Lord save some sinners, and leave some to
perish? Just this: some believe on him, and some
won't. He invites us all; the text says: "Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall he saved.'^
And he keeps his word ; all who trust him are safe,
and all who are too proud and too ungrateful to
trust him, are lost.
And to-day I want to talk to you about this
80 PLANTATION SERMONS.
faitli ; this believing on a Saviour. I want to tell
you what it is, and persuade you all to take him
for your Saviour.
I. First of all, let us see what the Lord Jesus
has offered to do for you.
The text says : " Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved^ What does he
mean by being "saved?" Let me put you in
mind, now, that sinners are lost in two ways:
they are lost, because they are condemned and
punished ; and they are lost, because they are
so wicked and miserable. — Every sinner, you
know, has broken God's holy law, and God says :
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die." He has
prepared a world of everlasting fire, for those
who hate him ; and he will drive every wicked
man and woman into that awful place. He must
punish the wicked ; if he didn 't hate sin, who
could call him just and holy? Where would be
his glory ? Just as long as God is good and holy
himself, he must love his glorious law, and punish
all that break it.
Now, the Lord Jesus, being God as well as
man, came into the world to take our place :
he " bore our sins in his own body on the
tree;" i. e., the cross. So as he took our punish-
ment on himself, God could forgive us without
giving up his law, his glory, or his holiness.
When one of us who believes on Jesus dies and
goes to God's bar to be judged, and his sins
BELIEVE AND BE SAVED. 81
are read out against him, his Saviour says: ''I
took his place : I bore his punishment ; he is
mine, and I forgive all his sins." Then the door
of hell is barred up again, and the gate of hea-
ven flies open to let him in, and he dwells with
his Lord for ever. That is one way he saves
us.
But that would do us very little good, if that
was all. The sinner's greatest misery is being a
sinner; having a hard, unthankful, evil heart;
being full of low and wicked passions; being
ready for any temptation, and having no care
about anything good. In the course of this life
he does so many wicked things, and has so
many bad feelings that his whole heart is filthy,
selfish, miserable. How would a poor, ragged
prisoner, just out of the jail, feel, if he was
brought into a room full of happy girls and
boys? And a thousand times worse would the
sinner feel, if he could go into heaven, among
the pure angels, with his vile and sinful heart.
Ah, there would be no heaven for him any
where! An evil conscience, and greedy passions,
wicked habits, and an angry G-od, would torment
him, if God never raised a hand against him,
or tried to punish him. Just leaving him in his
sins, would be leaving him in endless woe !
And that 's the reason why our blessed Saviour
promised us the Holy Spirit ; so that vile hearts
might be changed, and love and goodness might
82 P L A X T A T I :>: SERMONS.
be there instead of sins. He offers to make
us " new creatures," so that what the sinner
loves now and sins about, shall never be loved
again; and what he forgets now — his God and
Saviour — he shall love with his whole soul.
He offers to take away our pride, to cure us of
evil passions, to fill our hearts with every lovely
and happy feeling. He offers us pardon for our
sins, joy instead of shame and grief, goodness
instead of wickedness, endless life instead of
everlasting fire.
II. The only trouble about explaining faith to
you, is that men will think that it is some
strange, great, and impossible thing; as if believ-
ing on the Lord Jesus wasn't like believing in
your friends, or your father or mother. Now,
you must try to put that foolish notion out of
your minds, and learn how to believe on your
Saviour, by thinking how you trust everybody
that is kind, and wise, and holy. Remember, you
are a lost sinner, and Christ offers to save you
if you will just believe on him. What does he
mean by that ?
Suppose you were taken sick with one of
those terrible diseases that often carry people
to their graves in a few hours; you are very
much frightened ; the agony of your mind is
more dreadful than the pain of your body. You
wring your hands, and cry, '' Mercy ! mercy ! help!
help! Oh, I shall die! I know I'll die!" You
BELIEVE AND BE SAVED. 83
won't listen to anybody, or follow anybody's
advice; you are wearing yourself out with fright
and horror, as much as with sickness. Now sup-
pose a kind and skilful doctor comes to you ;
he feels your pulse, and then he speaks to you.
If you trust him at all, you will stop those
cries and listen to every word he says, as if
your life depended on it. Presently he says, "1
can cure you : I am certain of it : but then you
must do just as I tell you. Will you promise
me that?" Here again, if you believe in his
skill at all, you will promise him at once ; if
you don 't trust him, you will go back to your ter-
ror, crying, " Oh, it's too late ! I'll die, I'll die! '*
But suppose you trust him, and promise to do as
he tells you. Then he says : " The first thing
for you to do, is to trust me with the whole
matter ; you must keep perfectly calm and quiet ;
don 't get frightened ; don 't begin to cry out
again; just rely on me, and I will save you."
Now, if you do really trust him, you commit the
whole case to him; if your fears begin to rise
again, you look at him, and you say to yourself:
*' He is able to save me, and he promises to
do it." That is faith.
Or suppose the ship in which you were sail-
ing was lost at sea, and you were left alone in
a little boat, far out of sight and hope of land.
The clouds gather in the sky, and the wind
blows in those short fierce gusts that come before
84 PLANTATION SERMONS.
a gale ; the waves begin to toss all around ^you,
and your poor little boat takes in water. You
give yourself up for lost ; you only keep on toil-
ing in rowing, because you can't bear to sit still
and die ! But behold, here comes a swift and
mighty ship; they see you, and bear down to
you ; they throw you a rope, and tell you, " Never
mind your boat ! Come aboard, and we'll take
care of you." And suppose that when they saw
you couldn 't manage it yourself, the captain
should spring into your boat, risking his life to
save yours, wouldn' t you trust it all to him ; do
just as he told you, however dangerous it looked,
and feel sure that he would save you ? That,
again, would be faith.
And on the other hand, how foolish it would be
in you, to go on pulling desperately at your oars,
paying no attention at all to the ship, or to the
captain's call, or even the rope they threw over
your boat ; just working madly and blindly to save
yourself, you didn't know how! That would be
unbelief; it would be destroying yourself just 'be-
cause you wouldn't rely on those who ought to be
trusted.
Now, the sinner is just like the sick man, or the
man in the boat ; and the Saviour is like the good
doctor or the captain of the ship. The only differ-
ence is this : that he can 't possibly fail or be
mistaken. The doctor's medicine might disappoint
him; the captain's ship might be wrecked itself;
BELIEVE AND BE SAVED. 85
hur the Lord Jesus always saves those that come to
him. He tells you plainly that he has power on
earth to forgive sins, and to send the Comforter,
who is the Holy Spirit, to give you a new heart j
that is, he is ready to undertake the whole case; to
save you from hell, and to cure you of wickedness,
if you will only leave it to him. Will you? Will
you trust the Lord who is mighty to save ? Just
follow his counsel, and trust in his promise, and
give yourself to him as you are ! If you do, that
will be faith.
A great many sinners, when they begin to think
about their sins and their danger, just get fright-
ened, and stay so. They say to themselves : " I'm
a lost sinner! I'm too wicked to be saved! I
must die in my sins ! " If you talk to them about
the Lord Jesus, they answer : " Oh yes, I know he's
a great Saviour ; but I'm too wicked to be saved."
They are like the sick man, raving with fright
instead of listening to the doctor. That is un-
belief. _ ^ .^
Other sinners go to work to get better; they are
too wicked to be saved now, but if they.^to^
swearing and drinking, and |)ray every day, and go
to church steadily, and hav^ f. great\many religious
thoughts; then, maybe, the Lord can save^hem.
Just as if Christ wasn't mighty enoiigh to save
them, unless they helped him! So, instead of
taking his advice, and " coming]^ to him " right off^
they work away, trying to make themselves good
86 PLANTATION SERMONS.
first, that he may save them afterwards. They are
just like that poor fellow in the boat — rowing so
hard, when rowing can 't help him, instead of drop-
ping his oars and catching the rope. That is un-
belief, too.
The only wise way is this : listen to what the
Lord says. He understands the whole matter, and
what he says is true. If he says: "I am able to
save to the uttermost all who come to me," you
must answer: ''Yes, Lord! thou canst save even
me, and 1 come to thee according to thy word.'^
When he says: "It is I, be not afraid;" you must
cry, like Thomas: "My Lord and my God! I
commit my soul to thee ; wash me from my sins in
thy blood, and make me a new creature ! " And
you must take it for certain that he hears you and
helps you, just because he said he would. Like the
sick man, driving away his fears by looking at the
doctor, before he feels that he is cured; so you
must "look unto Jesus," and calm your mind with
his word of promise, " Him that cometh unto me I
will in no wise cast out." That is faith. You
don 't hope and rejoice because you are so good, or .
because you can do so much for yourself, or be-
cause you feel so badly about your sins, but just
because an almighty Saviour has promised to save
all those who put their trust in him. Isn't that
plain ?
Now, I know what you will answer to this: You
will say: " I canH drive away my fears whenever I
BELIEVE AND BE SAVED. 87
please; I canH believe on the Lord, and be calm
and happy." Oh what a wicked, suspicious, un-
grateful heart you must have ! a heart that can 't
trust THE SON OF GoD !
But your Saviour has provided even for that ; he
promises the Holy Spirit to them that ask him, on
purpose to give them faith; and the more helpless
and unbelieving and wicked you feel, so much the
louder and more earnestly you ought to cry to God
to send the Holy Spirit and take away the stony
heart out of you, and give you a tender, pure,
believing heart.
What excuse can you make now for not believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ ? If you say you are too
great a sinner to be saved, he tells you: *'A11
manner of sins shall be forgiven to men." And
Paul declares that the Lord had mercy on him for
a " pattern of long suffering;" that is, to show how
much patience and love he has for us — enough to
save the chief of sinners. If you say you must be
better before you can dare to come, the Bible
answers: ^^ J^ot by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to his mercy hath he
saved us;" and " his mercy is everlasting." If you
say you can't believe on him, he puts you in mind:
" How much more will your Heavenly Father giYQ
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ! "
When you see yourself so miserable and guilty,
and helpless, and the Lord so patient, and gra-
cious, and mighty, how can you stay away ? How
88 PLANTATION SERMONS.
can you refuse him your heart — forget him, or
be suspicious of him? Look at him! His fore-
head is marked with the thorns ; his hands are
torn with the nails; his side is pierced with
the spear — he died for you! He sits on a
throne of glory, ready to plead for you ! Now
is the day of salvation : harden not your heart I
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
BE SAVED.
BEING BORN AGAIN. 89
SERMON yil.
BEING BORN AGAIN
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of G^od."— John iii. 3.
God earnestly invites sinners to come and be
saved, in the Bible. He says, "I have no plea-
sure in the death of him that dieth, but rather
that he should turn and live." "Come unto me
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest." "Him that cometh unto me
I will in no wise cast out." All through the
Bible he pleads with us not to die in our
sins and be lost for ever, but to let him save us
as he wants to. But then, he tells us plainly
that he knows we wonH mind him; that if he only
asks us and commands us to be so,ved, we will
surely be lost. We will go on hardening our
hearts and forgetting our God, until he has to
cut us off and cast us down into the pit. " My
people will not consider," he says. "There is
none that doeth good, no, not one : destruction
and misery are in their ways." " I go my way,
90 PLANTATION SERMONS.
and ye shall seek me, and die in your sins." —
" There is none that seeketh after God."
The God who knows all things, and who sees
as plainly the thoughts of our heart, as he sees
the stars in the sky, knows that men never seek
him of their own accord. And so, when he in-
vites us to repent and believe, he puts us in mind
that there is something to he done that we canH do,
" No man can come unto me except my Father
draw him." More than that ; he says it is some-
thing great that has to be done: something so
wonderful and mighty that nobody can do it but
God. Only he who gives us our lives, and raises
dead men out of their graves — only he can
change a sinner's heart. "Except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God." " Ye must be born again."
Now there is something very terrible about
this. God condemns us for our sins, and our
own hearts condemn us, too. God provides a
great salvation for us, and invites us to take it;
and yet poor, wicked man can't take it! He
can look at it, and wish he was safe, and trem-
ble and mourn because of his danger; but he
can 't stretch out his hand and be saved ! And
I think we had better try and understand the
case, and see if it is really so, and find out how
we can be saved.
I. What does the Bible mean by "being born
again?"
BEING BORN AGAIN. 91
It means, first, that sinners, with their natural
hearts, are just as unfit to serve God, as the child,
before it is horn, is fit to toil and sufifer among
men. I don't mean to say that sinners feel that,
or even believe it; but I say it is so, whether
they believe it or not. And if any man wants to
deny it, let him try to serve God as he ought to ;
the harder he tries, the sooner he will find out that
without the Lord's help he can do nothing.
It means that these hearts of ours are not the
right kind of hearts for that kind of work. They
are very well suited to some things, such as hating,
envying, loving money, and pleasure, and our own
way ; they are excellent places to store away bad
thoughts and wicked feelings ; ready enough to in-
dulge bad passions, or to learn bad habits, or to
love bad company. If anybody wants a proud heart
or a selfish heart; an impure or a revengeful heart;
a sullen, a cunning, or an obstinate heart, here is
the world for him! Everything that is foolish, un-
grateful, disobedient, and unbelieving, grows up in
our hearts like weeds in rich ground.
But if he wants a heart that can love and trust
the Almighty Lord; a heart to praise him and
serve the Lord Jesus Christ ; a heart set free from
sin; a heart to believe the Bible, and repent,
and pray ; a heart to hope for heaven and be tired
of an evil world ; he will have to pray for tlie Holy
Spirit. We never have those hearts till God gives
them to us. What a difference it makes in a man
92 PLANTATION SERMONS.
'when he gets such a heart as this ! What he used
to hate he loves now; what he cared about he gives
up now; what he was afraid of once, can't frighten
him now Sin don't tempt him as it used to; the
name of the Lord Jesus is very sweet to him ; heaven
is his home; the grave has no more victory, and
death has lost his sting. He is so different from
what he was, that we call him a " new creatui-e;"
something is altered in him, that changes his whole
life. This is the second great thing that the Bible
means, when it says that we must be born again.
The first, you know, is, that our natural hearts are
entirely unfit to serve God ; the second is, that God
can give us the right kind of hearts.
No doubt it means a great deal more besides
this. It means that Christians begin young ; even
though they grew old before they were converted,
they can't carry any wisdom into religion; they
have to learn it all after they begin. At first they
are weak and ignorant; they are easily tempted,
and they make a great many mistakes; but they
grow stronger and wiser as they go on. So, when
we are converted, we become as little children.
But the two things 1 mentioned just now are the
great things. They are what I want to talk about
at this time.
II. Can we see anything to prove this doctrine.
Ourselves ?
I think we can. I think if tlie Bible didn't say
anything about it, we should have to believe that
BEING BORN AGAIN. 93
sinners are not fit for religion, and that Christians
have had help from somewhere. Just look at the
difference between them.
Wouldn't it look very strange to you if impeni-
tent people generally should begin to hold prayer
meetings, to praise and worship God, and tell about
the Saviour? If they were to come together, and
form a church, and sit down at the Lord's table ?
If they were to carry Bibles in their pockets, and
slip off from business and pleasure to read them ?
If they were to come and see you on purpose to
talk about your soul and pray with you ?
And wouldn't it be just as strange if Christians
were to give up these things, and look to dances,
and horse-races, and cock-fights instead ? Suppose
the church members, where you live, were to re-
solve, some Sunday morning, that it wasn 't worth
•while to worship God any longer, or to respect
the Sabbath; and that they had better sell
their church for a store ; wouldn 't you be aston-
ished ? And yet no doubt you have heard some of
the wicked say these very things !
Now look and see what the world of sinners is
doing, and what the church of Christ is doing,
and notice the difference again. The world is
making war, drinking, persecuting, imposing on
the weak and the poor, cheating, frolicking, hating,
blaspheming. Sabbath-breaking. The church is
praising God, studying his word, praying for poor
sinners, preaching the gospel, teaching Sunday
94 PLANTATION SERMONS.
schools, holding meetings, sending missionaries to
the heathen, scattering Bibles and good books all
over the earth, baptizing the children, eating the
Lord's supper.
Mind, I don't say the world never does anything
Dleasant or good. God is so kind and so mighty
that he brings good out of evil, often. And I
don't say church members never do anything
wrong; there is some sin left in all of them. But
this is the thing : you and I know that the drunk-
ards and the blasphemers are men with natural
hearts, and those that praise God and teach men
religion are men with new hearts. And we see the
difference there is between the church and the
world.
Try it another way, now ; look at the difference
between a sinner and a Christian. The sinner has
to think about God sometimes; he can't help him-
self. If he could forget him, he would. When-
ever he can, he thinks about sometliing else. And
what kind of thoughts are they ? Why, he hardly
remembers Him till he's frightened into it ; scared
into wishing God wasn't such a jealous and terrible
judge! If he's in danger of dying, then he thinks
— "Well, I'm going to lose this world, any way,
and if I die as I am, I shall be lost. If I could
only live for ever in this world, how glad I would
be ! But God is angry with me, and he can
destroy me ; how can I escape from him ? "
And what are the Christian's thoughts of God ?
BEING BORN AGAIN. 95
Instead of trying to get awav from thinking about
him, he prays to him; calls him his Father! He
looks out on the green fields, the great sea, the
blue sky with its canopy of stars, and rejoices
because God made them. When he is sick ; when
sorrow falls on him ; when friends forsake him, he
takes comfort in thinking, of God, and hearing his
will. What does David say about God? " 1 will
go unto God, my exceeding joy I ''^ The believer
tells the Lord all that is in his heart; what he
could n 't tell to any man, he pours out before God.
You can see by that what he thinks of God. The
Lord as his Friend, his Father, and his Saviour.
Or if you notice how they feel about death, you
will see the difference between the new heart and
the old one. I know some sinners die stupidly j
they sleep through their last minutes, and die
asleep. Some are too proud to look frightened, or
to beg God for mercy then, after refusing him so
long. Even that isn't dying happily! But oh
what agonies men feel, that are dying in their sins I
One cries : " Millions of money for an inch of
time!" Another says: "Now I know there is a
hell ; for I feel it already." Others beg for mercy
— mercy — mercy, in their despair, till they die.
But the Christian — he may be ever so fearful
beforehand, but when his day comes to die, God
gives him strength enough to die in Christ. He
can leave wife, children and home with a smiling
face, because he is going to his Father's house.
96 PLANTATION SERMONS.
One lifts up his dying eves and rejoices ; he says :
" God, I am saved !" Another answers : " Oh, no, 1
don't doubt; I'm not afraid to die while my Re-
deemer lives." Each one in his own way is ready ,
and he goes in peace.
I will prove it another way. Some sinners grow
anxious about their souls, but God doesn 't change
their hearts. Now, if you notice how they treat
religion, you will see how unfit the old heart is to
repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Some
just contrive one false excuse for themselves, and
that's enough to ease their consciences! They
haven 't time now, or they don 't feel guilty and
frightened enough to repent. Their excuses
look foolish and vain, you see, and yet they
are strong enough to cheat sinners into putting off
religion.
Some sinners try to make themselves good first,
though that 's the very thing God offers to do for
them — to make them good. But they forget him,
and try to cure themselves — and fail.
Some imitate religion; they notice how Chris-
tians talk, and look, ajid feel ; and they come as
near it as they can, and then persuade themselves
that they are Christians. How foolish it would
seem for a sick man to try and behave like a well
man, instead of taking medicine and getting well !
So the men that only try to act like Christians,
grieve away the Holy Spirit, and are lost.
Some just harden their hearts, and drive God out
BEING BORN AGAIN. 97
of their thoughts, and he goes away, grieved and
angry, and they are cut down in their sins.
But those that God saves, though they may be-
have in this same way at first, yet they get more
and more in earnest somehow. They see how vain
their excuses are; they feel that their souls are
worth more than their business ; they find out that
all their " righteousness is filthy rags." Their hearts
grow tender, and God leads them on, and gives
them a new heart — and they are safe.
I hope you see, now, what a terrible difference
there is between the old heart and the new heart.
You see there isn't the slightest hope for a man,
while he tries to make his own heart new ; and the
only way for anybody to get a new heart, is to go to
God for it.
III. Now let us hear what God says about it.
He "knows what is in man," and if he says we
can't be saved except by the Holy Spirit, that
settles it.
And first, he tells us that even his teaching won H
make men wise. Is. xxviii. 12, God said : " This is
the rest, wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest;
yet they would not hear." Though God himself
points out the way to heaven for sinners, they won't
mind Him, nor walk in His ways. And often, when
they ask the way, they won 't walk in it. When
the people came and asked the prophet what they
should do, and he told them, what did they do ?
Jer. xliv. 16, "As for the word thou hast spoken
98 PLANTATION SERMONS.
in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto
thee:'
Even afflictions and trials, He says, won 't bring
men unto Him. Jer. v. 3, "Thou hast stricken
them, but they have not grieved; thou hast con-
sumed them, but they have refused to receive cor-
rection ; they have made their faces harder than a
rock ; they have refused to return." What a true
picture of sinners ! How often we see all these
things tried on them ! Ministers preach to them;
they read the Bible; they get sick, and they get
well; they lose friends and children in the grave;
but they don 't repent. They have made their faces
harder than a rock.
Then, again, he tells us plainly that sinners can H
please him. Rom. viii. 8, "They that are in the
flesh cannot please God." John vi. 44, " No man
can come unto me except the Father draw him."
John iii. 6, " That which is born of the flesh, is
flesh." He can't make any change in his own
heart without God's help ; and unless his heai^t i3
changed, he can't please God.
And besides all this, to show us how helpless we
are, he calls our salvation by two different names;
being born again, and being raised from the dead.
The text says, " Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God." And a little
further on the Lord Jesus says again : "Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God." So, in anoth§r
BEING BORN AGAIN. 99
place, 1 John v. 1, " Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, is born of God." How plain it is,
here, that man can't save himself! Now try the
other name God gives it — being raised from the
dead. Eph. ii. 1, " And you, who were dead in
trespasses and sins, hath God quickened," that is,
" raised from the dead," 2 Cor, v. 14, " If one died
for all, then were all dead." " Awake, thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
give thee light." Being a sinner is like being dead ;
and being converted is like being raised from the
dead.
So it is ; whichever way you look at it, men
are both guilty and helpless. The sick man might
just as well try to cure himself without medicine,
or the starving man to feed himself without bread,
as the sinner hope to repent and believe without
grace. What, then, must we do to be saved ?
" Let him take hold of my strength and make
peace with me, and he shall make peace with me."
We are weak, but God is mighty. " If any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus
Christ the Righteous;" and " If ye, being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him ! " You see, Goa
made it plain that we can' t be saved our own way;
and then he shows us just as plainly how we can be
saved. Seek him ! Go to him in earnest prayer ;
plead with him for his dear Son's sake; confess
100 PLANTATION SERMONS.
your sins ; put him in mind of his own promises and
calls ; ask him to create in you a clean heart and to
put a right spirit within you. Don't get discour-
aged ; be like that poor woman the Lord tried so
long, taking no notice of her, and then saying such
hard things to her. But she knew he was the Sa-
viour, and she kept on. Presently he said, " Oh
woman, great is thy faith ! Be it unto thee as thou
wilt !"
Think of that world of woe where sinners and
devils dwell ; think of the shamefulness of sin ;
remember how gracious God is — how ready to for-
give. The Holy Spirit is waiting to be gracious,
and the Lord Jesus is longing to save. That's
what he died for! Come, all ye weary, heavy-
laden, and he will give you rest. Or shall he say
to you at last, " Ye would not come unto me, that
YOU might have life ?"
SERMON yill.
THE NEW CREATURE
Therefore if any man he in C7irisf, he is a new creature ; old
things are passed away — behold, all things are become new.
—2 Cor. V. 17.
Were you ever very sick? Sick with a long
and dangerous fever, so that it took away your
senses, and kept you on the very edge of the
grave? You got weaker and weaker; medicine
didn 't seena to do you any good ; you lay very still ;
they could hardly find your pulse or feel your heart
beat or see you breathe ; but just as almost every-
body thought you were gone, you began to revive
a little. Your reason came back; your fever left;
the doctor said: "He will get well." The paina
of death had got hold upon you, but the Lord
brought you back from the borders of the pit.
Now, can you remember how you felt the first
day you could creep out into the fresh air, with a
stick to help you? So weak, so tired if you only
raised your hand or spoke to anybody ; your knees
would tremble, and your voice was so thin and
faint, it sounded strange even to you. But oh how
sweet and bright everything looked! It didn't
9* 101
102 PLANTATION SERMONS.
seem like the same world jou lived in before ; and
the fresh breeze was so cool and gentle ; everybody
looked so cheerful and kind ; the very trees and
the birds seemed to be so glad, that the pleasant
tears would come into your eyes, and your heart
swelled with happiness. And I hope you thanked
God, with all your soul, for sparing you when you
were about to die, and promised to serve him, as
the hymn says :
*' My life, which thou hast made thy care.
Lord, I devote to thee."
That 's the way people often feel, when they
have just been converted. At first, when they
begin to think about religion, they are frightened
and distressed ; often they can hardly sleep or eat,
they are in such trouble ; that angry God looks so
terrible, and they. find they can 't save themselves
or escape from him. And then, when they are in
despair about themselves, and feel that they are
lost, the Lord smiles on them, loves them, gives
them a new heart, and forgives all their sins. And
just as beautiful as the world looks to you when
you begin to get well of sickness, just so calm and
happy is everything to the man whose sins are all
washed away, and his wickedness and sorrow is
cured by the Holy Spirit.
But often God does his great work in sinners*
hearts so quietly and gently, that nobody can tell
just when it was done; they often doubt about them-
selves 5 they wonder whether there can be the new
THE NEW CREATURE. ]03
heart; they're afraid they have made some mis-
take. Especially when some young Christians show
such a great sudden change it makes the others
say: "If that is the way we have to be converted,
I can 't be a Christian." Now, I want to clear up
that trouble for you ; I want to show you what a
young Christian really is ; how he feels and acts ;
so that you can find out about yourself whether you
are a sinner yet, or if God has saved you.
T. And I will tell you, first of all, something
about the young Christian's /ee/w^5.
Often th-e change in his feelings is just as quiet
as the sun's going over our head at 12 o'clock; it
makes no noise at all, but the shadows begin to
fall the other way ; where it was dark before it is
light now, and it grows brighter and brighter till
sundown.
See what a difference in his feelings ahout God.
Once, God was very terrible to him ; he couldn 't
stop thinking about him, but he only remembered
the Lord's most fearful names; the jealous God,
the dreadful God, the angry God. If he could only
forget him, how glad he would have been. But he
couldn't; day and night he said to himself: " Our
God is a consuming fire ;" " it is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God ! " Many a
man has got so frightened and angry, thinking
about his danger and God's wrath, that if he could
tear Jehovah from his throne, he would do it.
But now! "The Lord is my Shepherd — I shall
104 PLANTATION SERMONS.
oot want: He leadeth me; yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for thou art with me. I will dwell in
the house of the Lord for ever." Instead of being
afraid of God, as he used to be, it is thinking about
God that keeps him from being afraid. Just like
the little child that wakes up in the night and
throws out its hand to its mother, and feels safe
because she is there ; so God's child, that would be
frightened because of sin, and death, and hell,
rests in peace, because the Lord is near. Hear
what David said^ when his cruel son Absalom and
a whole army were gathered round him to take his
life : " Thou, Lord, art a shield for me ! I lay me
down in peace, and sleep; I awake, for the Lord
sustains me. I cry unto the Lord with my voice,
and he hears me out of his holy hill."
And one thing is very wonderful and very beauti-
ful; the young Christian loves to remember that
God is holy. That was the very thing that made
the sinner afraid. God being so pure and spot-
less; hating sin so deeply; being so "angry with
the sinner every day ; " that was the most awful
thought to him. But now, though he knows there
is sin in him still, he rejoices because God is holy.
He cries out, " Let me praise thy great and terrible
name, for it is holy." When he thinks about his
own transgressions, and gets sad and discouraged,
tlien he looks up and takes comfort, because God is
good and pure, and because God promises that at
last we shall be like him."
A NEW CREATURE. 105
See, now, what he thinks of Christ:
"How sweet the name of Jeaus sounds,
In a believer's ear !
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear."
At the very name of the dear saviour his voice
trembles, and his heart swells, and the tears fill his
eyes. Like Mary Magdalene, when she met him
just risen from the tomb, he can't say much, but he
can kneel and cry — " My Master!" Oh, if he can
only do something to please the Lord, and to make
men honour him, how glad he will be ! The Lord
don't need him — he knows that very well; but his
own heart and hands can 't keep still. He under-
stands now what John says about the saints in
heaven — "they rest not, day nor night, praising
God and the Lamb." The Lord i^ his friend ; in
every trouble, in every joy, he goes to his Saviour's
feet, and pours out his heart there. He wants
everybody to come and trust in Jesus Christ; and
he can promise them, if they will only try him,
they will say: "Now we believe, not because of thy
saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know
that this is indeed the Saviour of the world."
But it is trembling joy that is in his heart. He
feels so unworthy ; so ashamed of that wickedness
he lived in ; so afraid that he won 't keep his own
promises, and that he will dishonour his Saviour in
Bome way, that he can hardly trust himself to
106 PLANTATION SERMONS.
rejoice. Then he wonders at the change in him-
self; he looks up to the Saviour, and wonders
that such a great and holy God should care for a
poor sinner like him; he can 't understand it. But
he can praise him! Oh, yes; he can sing the song
of heaven already: " Salvation unto our God, that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for
ever ! "
As I told you just now, he remembers his sins ;
but he don't think about them as he used to.
Once, he was only sorry for his sins, because they
brought him into danger If he could only think
God would 'nt punish him for them, he would
never give them up; and if he thought he could
go on safely in sin for ten years, or fifty, and then
be saved, he'd give every minute to sin and Satan.
But because he was afraid of dying and being lost,
he began to seek religion.
But now he feels very differently about sin — it
grieves his dear Father, and he hates it for that.
If there wasn't any hell, he would hate sin, just
because it offends Jesus Christ, who is our Master
and our chief delight. Our very hearts cry out as
David's did: — "Oh Lord, how I love thy law I''
We sec that the law is right, and we know that he
is good ; and we can 't bear to break it, or to dis-
please him.
The young Christian loves all Christians. He
looks up to God's old servants with love and hope.
He loves them for being the Lord's own children }
A NEW CREATURE. 107
for loving the same heavenly Father that he loves.
He thinks how many thousands of prayers they have
prayed ; how they used to feel just as he does now ;
how much wiser and better they have grown. And
he thinks: " By the Holy Spirit's help, I shall be
like them. I will serve my G-od all my days. 1 am
only the little blade of corn now, just come up out
of the ground, but the Lord will bless me, and I
will grow up to be the full corn in the ear. Then,
when the angels come to gather the grain into his
barn, they will take me to heaven too ! "
But oh, how tenderly he loves young Christians,
like himself! When he sees them weeping for joy
because their sins are forgiven ; when he hears them
pray for a blessing on their minister, their friends,
and poor sinners ; when they sing God's praise, his
whole heart answers to it. They are " one," as the
Saviour promised. He almost trembles, when he is
with them, for fear he may say or do something to
discourage or trouble them, or tempt them away
from their God. How earnestly he prays that God
will bless them, keep them from sin, make them use-
ful, happy, holy !
Notice, now, how he loves the Bible. It is a
very puzzling book to sinners; it says a great
many things they don't understand; some few, I
know, that hardly anybody understands; but a
great many of God's words are " hard sayings " to
sinners. Hating sin, loving God whom nobody
ever saw, rejoicing in affliction and sorrow, being
108 PLANTATION SERMONS.
strong in God when we are weak in ourselves —
these are things that we can 't understand till we
feel them. That makes the difference. Every
little while the young Christian finds a verse that
used to be dark to him, that is all plain and easy
now. He says: "That's the very way I feel; I
know that's true now, though I didn't use to think
so." Presently you hear him again; "How true
that is ! I never thought so before, but now 1
feel it."
Then, very often, he has a feeling of some kind
that he can 't express at all. He tries to find some
words for it, but they don 't come ; till at last he
reads or hears some sweet word out of the Bible
that suits him exactly. But the great thing is,
that now he believes God's word.
The promises belong to him ; whatever God says,
he believes; he takes it into his heart and "com-
forts himself with these words." Then it teaches
him so much that he wants to know; he gets ac-
quainted with his Saviour and his God there ; he
learns about heaven; he grows wise about what's
right and wrong. In fact, whenever he gets weak
and weary, the Scriptures make him strong; when
he gets downhearted, they cheer him ; when he gets
cold and careless, they stir him up ; when he feels
ignorant, they teach him; when he sins, they re-
buke him ; while he lives they guide him ; when he
dies they make him triumph in his God! No
wonder he loves them dearly ; they come from his
THE NEW CREATURE. 109
Father and his Redeemer, and they lead him up to
Him. He says : " Thy word have I hid in my
heart, that I might not sin against thee ; thy law is
my delight. How sweet are thy words unto my
taste ! It is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto
my path."
Once more. See what he thinks about the worlds
to come — the world of woe, and the world of joy.
He looks back on hell, as a man might look at a
burning house he had just been dragged out of, or
on a raging sea he has just escaped from — with
mingled horror and joy. " If I had been left to go
on in sin a little longer, that would have been my
portion! Perhaps, if I had grieved God's Holy
Spirit once more, he would have left me there!
Now I'm safe; the Lord is my keeper; the gates
of hell shall not prevail against me. Glory, glory,
to Jesus Christ my Redeemer
"He burst the iron gates of death
And tore the bars away ! "
Ah, how sweet are his thoughts of heaven ! If a
pleasant breeze blows; if the day is cool and
bright; if the clouds grow splendid at sunrise
or sun set, he thinks: " My home is better yet."
If the night grows dark and gloomy, he remembers,
" there is no night there." If he hears Christians
singing songs of praise, he joins them with all his
heart, for he knows he will yet sing the " song of
Moses and the Lamb." When sin shames him and
casts him down, and he weeps about it before the
10
110 PLANTATION SERMONS.
Lord, his comfort is, that he will soon go where
thej never sin; just as you sing it in your own
song:
" Free — oh free, my Lord ;
Free from every sin."
Sickness and death, war and shame and woe,
never come there. He feels it; and often he stands
and looks up to heaven, and his heart yearns to be
there. Heaven is his home.
II. But it isn't only new feelings the young
Christian has; he has new principles, too.
Mind, I don't say "new resolutions." Sinners
make all the resolutions, just like the Christian ;
but the trouble is, there is nothing in his heart to
make him keep them. Often the young Christian
is almost afraid to make any more good resolutions,
he feels so weak and wicked ; he isn 't near as bold
as he was ; but something in his heart, that God
put there, keeps him fromfi sinning, and makes him
do right. That something is what I call his prin-
ciples.
And the first one is, always to try and please
God. That was one of the Lord Jesus Christ's
principles — "I do always the things that please
my Father." Not as if God was hard to please,
and it took a great deal of trying to satisfy him —
oh, no. He leaves such foolish thoughts for the
unbelievers ; but he loves God so for his goodness,
his holiness, and his mercy, that he must do some-
thing to show his love. Like a little child, that
THE NEW CREATURE. Ill
loves to run across the floor, and bring its mother's
spool or thimble, just to see her smile and look
bright ; so God's child is happy when he feels he is
doing his Father's will.
The next one is, to taice his Saviour for his
King. He knows the Lord Jesus is his Saviour;
but he isn't satisfied with just being delivered
from hell. He prays with his whole soul, " Thy
kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is
in heaven." So he tries to keep all the Lord's
laws himself; he wants everybody to own and obey
their Redeemer ; and he does all he can to build
up the church. It grieves him to see the Sabbath
day broken; to hear the name of the Lord Jesus
taken in vain by the wicked ; to think how many
great nations there are that do not know him and
serve idols.
Another principle is, to he a good and true brother
to his brethren and sisters in the church. You can
always tell him by his keeping the peace. Old
Christians sometimes get cold hearted and quarrel-
some ; but if a man who thinks he has just been
converted is quarrelsome, hard to please, can 't
forget a cross word or an injury, tell him he is mis-
taken; if he had just begun to love God, he couldn 't
bear malice against God's children. He prays for
his minister constantly; begs God to remember him,
and give him grace and wisdom. He thinks about
the church, and tries to find out what he can do for
the Lord's people. He says, " Because of the house
of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good."
112 PLANTATION SERMONS.
The next one is, to do all the good he can. The
divine commandment, you know, is this: "Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And he be-
gins to keep that law, and every law of God, as
soon as he finds it. He pities poor sinners about
to die in their sins, and be lost for ever. He prays
for them ; he watches his chance to speak a good
word to them ; if they have any friend that can do
it better than he can, he asks him to be faithful too.
He is kind to the poor and sick, to the wicked and
miserable. Like his Saviour, who wept over Jeru-
salem when the Jews rejected him and were going
to kill him, he weeps for dying men, and longs to
save them.
I can only speak of one more principle now — to
make haste, and get rid of sin. He is tired of this
wicked world; he was "weary and heavy laden"
before he found peace in Christ, and now, when he
looks into his heart, and finds unruly passions and
selfish feelings there, it grieves and darkens his
mind. He repents of every sin as soon as he finds
it out; he pleads with the Lord every day, to keep
him from temptation, and deliver him from evil;
he is glad to deny himself, and give up even what
seems right, if it is likely to lead on to something
else that's wrong. He abhors what is evil, and
tries to get rid of it ; and he tries to live by the
Lord's command, "whether ye eat or drink, or
■whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
But remember, though he is a " new creature,"
A NEW CREATURE. 113
he is young yet. As David says, his " soul is even
as a weaned child ;" weak, unable to take care of
itself, needing to be looked after all the time. So
the young Christian don't get discouraged when he
finds some evil in himself; he knows that he has a
great deal to learn, and that he will have to work
hard and get strong, and then he will be holy and
happy. " They that have clean hands will grow
stronger and stronger.'
(14 PLANTATION SERMONS.
SERMON IX.
JOINING T-HE CHURCH.
' With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." — ^Rom. x. 1 0.
The Lord Jesus, our good Shepherd, has pro-
■^xvled a fold for his flock — a place where he can
keep them together, and watch over them. It is
called his church ; the church of Christ ; the house
of the living God. All who belong to him, whom
he bought with his precious blood, have a right to
dwell there, and be numbered among his " sheep."
He promised that there should be '' one fold and
one shepherd ;" that is, that all his people should
be one people, whatever place they lived in, and
whatever name they were called by; and that he
himself would be the Saviour of all ; not taking
care of some himself, and leaving the rest to some
body else, but counting all together, and caring for
dll — being every Christian's own dear Redeemer.
Now that he has brought his people together and
made them into a church, he invites everybody
that believes in him and repents of sin, to join it.
It 's the place, not for sinners that want to be sayed
JOINING THE CHURCH. 115
and wish they were Christians, but for those who
think that they are Christians already. Your house
is the place for your children, and not for other
children that wish they were yours; and so the
church is for God's family, and nobody else. And
I want to tell you to-day what a sweet and happy
place it is, that the Lord has built for his dear
friends. I want to invite every one of you, that
repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, to
join the church. You see what that text says:
** With the mouth confession is made unto salva-
tion;^^ that is, the way to be saved is, to profess the
Lord before men.
Nobody must expect to be saved by hiding a
little religion in their hearts where it will never be
heard of. The only way is, to believe with all your
heart and come out from the worlds and confess the
Lord as your Saviour publicly. That's the way
to be saved, and the Bible don't tell us any other
way.
I. But, first of all, we must have something to
profess.
How foolish it would be to think that God was
pleased with a falsehood ! And yet, every year, a
great many people join the church, that know they
are not God's children ; they think if they can only
get in there, they are safe. It is very wicked, as
well as foolish and dangerous.
Joining the church is just saying to everybody
who sees you do it: "I was a sinner, lost and
116 PLANTATION SERMONS.
ruined, hardened and helpless, but now I take the
Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour; I believe that I
have repented of all my sins, and that he has par-
doned me, and that my name is now written in the
book of life. I give up the world; I'm tired of
sin: I'm going to serve God all my days." Now,
suppose I say all that when I don't feel it, just be-
cause I think getting into the church will save me,
haven't I told a falsehood? Isn't it wicked to say
what isn't true to men? And how much more
dreadful is it to say it to God I
But the sinner is the very man who don't care
about God in his heart ; he may be frightened
about his sins; he may wish he was safe; he may
take some comfort in going to church and prayer
meetings; because he thinks he can escape from
hell that way; but as soon as his fright is gone,
his religion is gone too. What pleasure can
God take in seeing such a man called his ser-
vant, and counted among his people ? How angry
the Lord Jesus must be, when he sees a sinner
and an unbeliever sit down at the communion
and make believe there ! — pretend to honour the
Lord's broken body, when he don't trust him at
all!
The Lord Jesus said some terrible things about
false professors of religion. Let me tell you some
of his sayings: "Ye hypocrites! well did Isaiah
prophesy of you, saying, ' This people draweth
nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me
JOINING THE CHURCH. 117
with their lips, but their heart is far from me.'"
And again he says: "Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites I for ye are like unto whited
sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but within are full of dead men's bones and all
uncleanness." And if I was to tell you what God
says about those who worshipped him falsely in old
times, you would tremble, for fear you should fall
into the same condemnation.
In truth, the sinner's heart is vile in God's sight,
for God is holy ; and he cannot bear to count any-
body among his friends that isn't ashamed of sin,
and praying for the Holy Spirit to cure him of
wickedness. God is the God of truth, and he hates
every false way, and therefore, as the hymn says,
he
"Abhors the sacrifice
Where not the heart is found."
And this makes it plain that nobody ought to
.profess religion, till he has some religion to pro-
fess. It is foolish and wicked to try it before
then ; it is cheating ourselves and mocking God.
II. But if a man is a Christian, then, as I told
you just now, the church is the very place for him ;
the safest and happiest place for every child of
God. God invites them to come in ; promises them
blessings if they confess the Lord, and threatens
woe, if they are ashamed of him. " Whosoever
shall confess me before men, him will I also confess
before my Father who is in heaven. But whoso-
118 PLANTATION SERMONS.
ever shall deny me before men, him will I also
deny before my Father who is in heaven." And
again : " If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation." Sometimes God gives us a
positive command about it: " Come out from among
them, {i. e. from among the sinnerS;) my people,
and be ye separate; aud I will receive you, and
will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons
and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
That ought to be enough for anybody that loves
God, or believes on the Lord Jesus. To have the
Saviour own him before our Father in heaven, and
to have God call him his son — isn't that a pre-
cious promise? If it was something hard and
dangerous and fearful, every true Christian would
rejoice to own his God and Redeemer; but the
Lord has filled his church with blessings for his
people.
First of all, you know the world is full of tempt-
titions ; inside and outside, everything persuades
us to sin against God. And we are just so blind
and foolish, that anything can lead us into sin, and
so into trouble and darkness. Everything that helps
us to resist temptation is a blessing; it helps us
just where we need help the most. But what can
a man do that will help him so much as making a
JOINING THE CHURCH. 119
public promise? You stand up before all the
Christians, and before ever so many sinners too —
old friends and strangers both — before the great
God and our Saviour, and you make a solemn
public promise to live a pure and pious life ; to
pray for the Holy Spirit's help, and to serve the
Lord with all your might ; to set a good example,
and to do good as you have opportunity. And
surely if anything a man can do will make him
firm and faithful, such a solemn vow as that will
do it.
The next thing is this — joining the church puts
the Christian among Christians ; it makes him
"come out from among" the sinners, and be sepa-
rate, and it joins him to those who believe on the
same Lord Jesus Christ, and love the same God,
and make the same promise.
Now we know how feelings run from one heart
to another; if one member of a family is good-
tempered and pleasant and happy, the others' faces
begin to brighten too. And we know how easy it
is to do right, if all the company do the same thing.
How many people work hard, just because every-
body about is industrious! So, when the young
Christian leaves the company of sinners, and joins
himself to those who love heaven and their Father
there — those that are patiently trying to do right
and to please God and to get rid of sin — those
who love one another and are kind — it is a great
deal easier for him to do right j it keeps his heart
120 PLANTATION SEEMONS.
warmer and brighter to have so mucli love and
happiness all around.
Then, again, when the young Christian joins the
church, he feels that all those precious privileges
they have there, belong to him. It is the house of
his God where they worship ; it is his Saviour they
praise. His minister preaches, and he preaches to
him. When prayer is made for the church, he
knows that means him too. He is not a stranger
there : he 's at home.
But most of all, he feels that at the Lord's table,
any body can hear the preaching, and join in the
singing; but only those that come out from the
world can take the communion. When the minister
repeats the Lord's words, " This is my body, broken
for you," his heart answers: "Yes, my master, it
was broken for me ! That blood was shed for me !
As often as I do this, I remember thee. I promise
to show forth thy death till thou come ! "
And then, he knows that every officer in the
church has promised to watch over him, and help
him. If they see him going astray, it is their place
to warn him kindly; to instruct him; to encourage
him ; to strengthen him, whenever he tries to do
right. If his heart gets heavy and dark, he can go
to his pastor, the elders, or the leaders, and tell
them about it, and get their advice ; they will feel
for him, and pray for him, and study his case, to
see what the matter is. If he finds out that he has
been sinning, he can go and confess it to them, and
JOINING THE CHURCH. 121
have tlie help of their prayers, and their watching
over him, to hold him up when he tries to do better.
In truth, they are bound to help him every way
they can ; that 's exactly what the Lord put them
there for ; and no church member ought to feel
afi-aid to go to his minister and talk to him about
anything that concerns his soul. The Bible says :
" They watch for our souls, as they that must give
account."
But the greatest of all is this — the Lord our God
has promised to bless his church; and of course,
whoever really belongs to the church, will get his
share of Grod's blessing. " Yea, God loved the peo-
ple ; he will keep the feet of his saints. For the
Lord forsaketh not his saints; he preserve th their
soul; he delivereth them out of the hand of the
wicked. Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers
and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God."
" My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish." " God shall confirm
you to the end, that ye may be blameless in the day
of the Lord Jesus." " For the Lord will not for-
sake his people, because it hath pleased him to
make you his people," " Can a woman forget her
sucking child? Yea, they may forget; yet will I
not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee on the
palms of my hands, and thy walls are continually
before me."
U
122 PLANTATION SERMONS.
He promises to deliver us out of affliction. "In
a little wrath I hid my face from thee, but with
everlastiug kindness will I have mercy on thee,
saith the Lord thy Redeemer." " Thus saith the
Lord that created thee, and he that formed thee, O
Israel — Tear not! for I have redeemed thee; I
have called thee by thy name: thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be
with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee ; when thou walkest through the fire,
thou shalt not be burned. For I am the Lord thy
God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour."
He promises to make the church holy : "He who
has begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ." The Lord Jesus " gave
himself for the church, that he might sanctify and
cleanse it ; that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any
such thing ; but that it should be holy." And he
shows us how he will bless the church in heaven at
last: "After this, I beheld, and lo, a great multi-
tude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood be-
fore the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried
with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God
who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb!
These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they
JOINING THE CHURCH. 123
before the throne of God, and serve him day and
night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the
throne shall dwell among them. They shall hun-
ger no more, neither thirst any more; neither
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For
the Lord, which is in the midst of the throne shall
feed them, and shall lead them unto living foun-
tains of waters : and G-od shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes."
These are some of God's promises and kind
words to his church. I might show you a great
many more, for the Lord dearly loves his church,
• but these are enough, surely. Every true-hearted
church -member has a share in them, and God will
bless him according to his promise.
IIL But God hasn 't only promised to bless and
reward the Christian himself. He doesn't mean
us to look just at the good we can get out of it and
nothing else. Joining the church is the way to do
good, as well as to get good.
First of all, it encourages the Christians, when
men leave the world and join them and confess the
Lord. They say : " Our God is saving sinners
again! Here's another poor sinner repenting!
One more of his enemies, that he has brought to
be his friend!" Then they thank God and take
courage; they can praise and pray; they can serve
God and do good, with new spirit, when they see
that he is calling men '' out of darkness into his
marvellous light."
124 PLANTATION SERMONS.
It warns sinners, too; it makes tliem feel how
great God's mercy is, and how others are entering
the kingdom of heaven while they stay out. They
remember that eyery one of these new Christians
will rise up against them in the judgment, because
they had the same blessings and didn 't repent. It
puts them in mind of that " great gulf" that lies
between heaven and hell, when they see how we
begin to part from one another here — the husband
belonging to the church, perhaps, and the wife
belonging to the world, the sister loving God, and
the brother loving sin ; the father praying, and the
son swearing.
In a great many other ways, joining the church
does good. It brings religion into a man's family j
it makes him set a good example wherever he is —
in the field or in the house ; it sets him to praying
for people ; and more than all, it honours God. It
says : " God, thou art my God 1 early will I seek
thee, for in thee the friendless and fatherless
findeth mercy. Thou forgivest all my sins; thou
renewest my heart; thou leadest me in the way of
life. I will sing praise unto my God, while I have
my being ! Thou keepest my soul from death, mine
eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. The
Lord hath washed me from my sins in his own
blood : he is my Eedeemer, and 1 am his servant.
I give up every other hope, and every idol, and
every sin ; the Lord is my portion and my joy. I
bear witness that Jesus Christ is a perfect Sa-
JOINING THE CHURCH. 125
viour, and the Lord my God is an everlasting
Father." So we honour God and do good; and
God smiles on us and saves us. Isn't it a good
thing to profess Christ? and oughtn't every be-
liever to speak out and own his Lord? " With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
n*
126 PLANTATION SERMONS.
SERMON X.
GOSPEL CONDUCT.
Only let your conversation he as becometh the gospel of Christ,
—Phil. i. 27.
I SUPPOSE you have all heard of Paul, the
great Apostle; the man who wrote the verse
that I'm taking for my text. His first name was
Saul. He was a Jew; fond of his religion and
his goodness; knowing nothing about his own
heart, or the real meaning of God's word. While
he thought he was so good, he was full of wicked
and bitter passions; he was proud, self-righteous,
uncharitable. So, when the Lord Jesus came and
died for us, Paul was ready to hate him and all his
people ; and when the first Christians came out of
their hiding places, and began to tell the good
news of a Saviour, Paul — young man as he was —
was ready to persecute and kill them. When that
good man, Stephen, was beaten to death with
stones, Paul stood by and took care of their clothes
for those who were murdering him. And when the
Christians began to flee away and hide again, be-
cause of the persecution, he was the fiercest of all
in hunting for them, hearting them, putting them in
GOSPEL CONDUCT. 127
jail, or anything else the cruel Jews wanted to do
with them.
He hated the Christians so bitterly, that when
he couldn't find any more to persecute in Jerusa-
lem, he begged the rulers and chief men to let him
go to Damascus and oppress them there : " both
men and women," the Bible says ! No pity in his
heart for any poor sinner that believed in Jesus
"Christ!
But while he was hurrying on there, fierce and
cruel ; thirsting for their blood as any tiger, all at
once a bright and terrible light shone out of
heaven on him — brighter than the very sun itself
— so bright that he fell down, blind and sick, on
the ground ! It was the Lord Jesus Christ, in his
glorious body, looking down from heaven on this
wicked man, persecuting his people. The Lord
said : " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ?" He
answered: "Who art thou. Lord?" Christ said :
*■' I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest."
In an instant Paul saw what he was doing ; he was
hating and grieving his own Saviour ! the Lord
that died for him! Oh, how frightened and
ashamed he was! every proud and bitter thought
melted out of his mind, and he began to love the
very cause, and the very people that he had been
hating. And his first word then was: "Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do?" That was the uppermost
thing in his heart, all the rest of his life. "I must
128 PLANTATION SERMONS.
do something for my Lord. What wilt thou have
me to do?"
Christ didn 't tell him, right off, what he was to
do ; he kept him three days blind and idle in Da-
mascus, to give him time to think, and to make up
his mind perfectly. Then he sent Ananias to him,
to open his eyes, and to tell him that his work was
this : " preach the gospel to the G-entiles." And
from that day to the day his head was cut off, he*
never gave it up : wherever he was, he warned and
taught the people, and told them of the " Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world."
Now, every true Christian, in his first days, is
like Paul in this, that he wants to know how he
ought to live, and what the Lord would have him
to do. It would make him very unhappy if the
Lord should forbid him to work for him and
serve him; but often he feels puzzled — he don't
know just what the rule of his life ought to be.
And this is what Paul tells us in the text, " Only
let your conduct be as becomes the gospel of
Christ;" fit your life to that good news, and you
will be just right. You know what that good
news is: the gospel puts us in mind that we are
sinners, and then tells us how the Lord Jesus
Christ came into the world and died on the cross
to save us; that God will save his people, and give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ; that he takes
care of us here, and makes us dwell in heaven when
we die.
GOSPEL CONDUCT. 129
What kind of life, then, will match that glorious
gospel? What must the Christian's conduct be?
That's the question I want to answer for you
to-day, so that you can know what the Lord will
have you to do.
I. Our conduct must be humble.
If a man makes a great and strange mistake, we
always think that after he find it out, he ought to
have a poorer opinion of himself, and more respect
for other people's judgment. If he makes so many
mistakes as to show that he is ignorant and foolish,
we think he ought to be very cautious how he trusts
his own judgment again, and be very careful to fol-
low good advice always. But if he has been a
drunkard, or a liar, or a thief, all his life, we won-
der how he can ever hold up his head, and look
and talk proudly any more.
Now, we know what we used to be. If we wanted
to forget it, the Bible keeps putting us in mind. We
were "dead in trespasses and sins; by nature the
children of wrath ;" " wherefore remember " Paul
says, "remember that ye were without God, having
no hope.'' God was angry with us ; we were full
of sin; ungrateful, selfish, disobedient; despising
his goodness, and rejecting Jesus Christ. We must
remember this; and remembering it ought to hum-
ble us. It will make us feel how wicked we are by
ourselves, and how certain we are to go back to
sin, if the same mighty God that turned us, doesn 't
keep us all the time. It will keep us from despis-
130 PLANTATION SERMONS.
ing sinners, and from forgetting that we were just
like them. It will make us afraid to run into
temptation ; make us know that we are never safe
except when we are near the Lord.
All that we say and do ; even the way we look,
ought to show that we never forget what poor sin-
ners we are : how guilty, and vile, and ready to
perish. Everything proud and haughty is foolish
in us, and hateful to God.
II. Our conduct must be holy.
Now that we see how guilty and vile sin makes
us; vexes the great God who wants to be our
friend ; turns away his love ; fills our hearts with
evil passions ; makes our consciences sore and sad ;
hardens us ; destroys our peace ; prepares us for
hell ; we must fear and hate sin with all our might.
We must search into our hearts to see what wick-
edness is left there ; to confess it, and repent of it,
and beg God to cure it for ns. We must pray Da-
vid's prayer: " Search me, God, and know my
heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if
there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting."
Then, you know, if we are Christians, we will
love the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will try to honour
him in the eyes of men. And we know that noth-
ing could dishonour him, or keep men from respect-
ing him, more than being selfish and passionate,
worldly and proud, and prayerless, when we are
called by his name. We know that if we love
GOSPEL CONDUCT. 131
liis law, and keep ourselves spotless and unblam-
able; if everybody sees how tender-hearted and
loving and good we are, they will think better of
him. They will say : " It is worth something to be
saved by Jesus Christ ; see how pure, and brave,
and kind his people are ! "
But not only for that; not only to honour our
Lord, hut because we love him so ourselves, we must
long to be like him : that must be our great ambi-
tion. Just as every good soldier loves to see his
general brave, and then tries to be just as brave
himself; just as every good child is ashamed and
disappointed when it does anything that its father
or mother wouldn 't do ; so the true believer is
never satisfied, when he isn 't like Christ. When
he is passionate, or proud, and finds it out, he says,
" Ah, my Lord never would do that. I 'm not like
my Saviour yet! Help me, my God, and cure
me of sin ! "
He longs to get away from this evil world, where
everything tempts him, and leads him away from
the Lord Jesus, and go where he shall ever " be with
the Lord."
" There we shall see his face,
And never, never sin."
That's what makes heaven so beautiful and so
happy; and those who want to dwell in heaven
must be holy.
Ill, We must be prayerful.
132 PLANTATION SERMONS.
Anybody that wants to be good and holy, and
Knows how weak, and sinful, and foolish we are,
will be sure to pray. Anybody that believes that
God is kind and mighty, will have something to
ask him. Anybody that knows God is our king,
and that loves to serve him, will want to confess
every sin to him, and be pardoned. And whoever
doesn't pray, we know he is proud, and wicked,
and unbelieving, and disobedient.
What does the Bible say ? " Blessed are they
that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for
they shall be filled." But if we want to be right-
eous so much, we will feel how helpless we are, and
we will be pouring out our hearts before God every
day — telling hiiu how ashamed and sorry we are,
to be so evil, and praying, " Create in me a clean
heart, God ; renew a right spirit within me ! "
Then all our sorrows and joys we will carry to
our dear Saviour. We will " trust in him at all
times :"
" To him in every trouble flee,
Our best, our only Fi'iend !"
When pain and sickness come; when death
is near; when our dear ones are taken away,
we will tell him about it, submit to him, and
pray for strength to grow better, and bear it well.
We will ask him for everything we want; we
will pray for a blessing on our families, our
church, our friends ; we will beseech him to save
GOSPEL CONDUCT. 133
poor sinners, and tlie whole wicked, miserable
world.
TV. We must he patient.
Yexation, disappointment, and sorrow come upon
everybody. Death and tears fill the world, because
of sin ; and if we are God's children, we won 't be
angry and discontented when we suffer ; we won 't
give up religion, and say, " What use is it to serve
God, if he doesn't save us from sorrow?" We
musn 't sit down in despair, as if there never was
any better time coming. We must believe that God
is good and faithful. We must know that he is try-
ing to cure us of sin and pride, and to take away
our idols, that keep us from loving him.
We must confess to him that we deserve all that
we suffer, and more; we deserve to die and be cut
off for ever ; but we are not afraid of that now.
The gospel tells us that " Whosoever cometh unto
him, he will in no wise cast out: " so we trust him,
and "rejoice in tribulation." We leave all our
affairs in his hands, and we are sure that all he does
is kind, and right, and wise. "The Lord is right-
eous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.'' —
And whoever believes in the Lord will believe that,
and be patient.
Y. The true believer must be busy.
Our days are few and evil; time is short, and
eternity is long; and yet whatever we do now, is
done for eternity. Soon we must go where there
are no tears to wipe away, no sorrows to relieve, no
12
134 PLANTATION SERMONS.
sinners to save. As the Lord Jesus said : " The
night Cometh, when no man can work." Whatever
we are going to do, we must do it quickly. If we
are going to conquer sin, to help our friends, to
teach our children, to serve the Lord among men,
to spread the good news of the gospel, now is the
time ! A few days more, and we shall be in another
world.
And you know the Bible says, "There remaineth
a rest for the people of God." We are expected to
work hard and wear out here. God puts our rest on
the other side of the grave to show us that " this is
not our rest." And when he tells us about heaven,
in the gospel, the next thing he says is : " Where-
fore be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know
that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."
Wlioever believes this will be busy, '' Redeeming
the time, because the days are evil."
YI. Our conduct must be spiritual.
The gospel makes a great difference between
those who are worldly minded and those who are
spiritually minded; and people often wonder what
it means by those names. Let me tell you about
them.
The worldly minded man is the man whose
thoughts, and cares, and business, are all in this
world. His treasure is here, and his heart also.
He lives and feels just as if this world was going
to last for ever, and he was going to live here
GOSPEL CONDUCT. 135
always. Money is worth more to him tlian God's
grace and a new heart. He cares more about man's
respecting him, than about God's forgiving him.
He is more anxious to have his own way in this
life, than to make heaven his home. Instead of
loving God, his heart is full of idols.
But we must not be so — we that believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. That is the very sin we con-
fessed and gave up, when we first came to God.
" No man can serve two masters ; ye cannot serve
God and mammon " — that is, God and this world.
So we took God for our portion, and gave up this
world. We professed that it was better to have
God forgive and love us, than to be rich or honour-
able ; than to have pleasure, and health, and ease in
this life. We took heaven for our home; and we
owned that this world is so wicked, and miserable,
and lasts such a little while, that we were foolish
for loving and caring about it. And now, whatever
comes : sorrow, trouble, reproach, death, we have
promised "to take up the cross and follow Jesus."
Now, what I say is, we must live according to our
profession^ and our promise. We mustn 't go back
nOw, and live as if we minded the opinions and
words of men, more than the will and the favour of
God. We mustn 't care more for money than we do
for holiness. We mustn 't try harder to have an
easy time and our own way, than we do to get to
heaven. *We mustn't be discontented aud rebellious
because of sorrow and toil in this life. No ; heaven
136 PLANTATION SERMONS.
is our home ! Christ is our all ! God is our exceed-
ing jo J ! We live for them, and not for this vain
world So, when Paul is telling about his trials and
persecutions, he says : " But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto me, that I
might finish my course with joy." And in another
place he says, "These light afflictions, which are but
for a moment (though they lasted all his life) work
out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory : while we look not at the things which
are seen, but the things which are not seen ; for the
things which are seen are temporal ] but the things
which are not seen are eternal." Paul was
spiritually minded ; and if our conduct is such as be-
comes the gospel of Christ, we shall be spiritual, too.
VII. Last of all we must be joyful. " Rejoice
in the Lord," says the Bible, "and again I say
rejoice." We have no business to go mourning all
our days. We are the children of God ; we have
the spirit that cries to him, "Father." "And if
children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint heirs
with Christ." You know what that means? Every
thing that God has belongs to the Lord Jesus and
us. Our sins are pardoned already; nothing can
do us any real harm but sin, and if we resist tempt-
ation, God will help us and hold us up. All our
sorrows are coming to an end; we are going to
dwell in joy and peace for ever. We shall be holy
and like him whom we love best
No more lonely days ; no more shame for our
GOSPEL CONDUCT. 137
wickedness; no more hard battles with our evil
hearts ; no more disappointment in our friends, in
our plans, in our love. Everybody in heaven will
love us ; and Christ and God will love us best of
all.
How can we mourn and be troubled, then, except
^with unbelief? And unbelief is sin. When your
heart is heavy you must return to the Lord, pray
to him to comfort you, to take away your sin, and
to make you rejoice. For it dishonours him when
we are downcast and sad. We must do as becomes
the gospel, and ^^ he joyful.^''
Now, when you think of all this I have been
telling you — being humble and holy, prayerful
aad busy, patient and spiritual and joyful — does it
seem too much for such poor, weak, sinful creatures
as we are ? It is too much, if we try by ourselves:
but God is our strength; and he says : " Fear not,
for I am with thee ; he not dismayed, for I am thy
God ; I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee,
saith the Lord, even thy Redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel." Trust him, all ye his people, and toil
on ; for there is rest in heaven.
12*
138 PLANTATION SERMONS.
SERMON XL
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD.
^^The Lord is my ShepTierd ; I shall not want. He makeiJi me
to lie down in green pastures. — Psa. xxiii. 1, 2.
David, though he was a king and a prophet in
in the last part of his life, was a shepherd at first,
and took care of his father's sheep. He used to
lead them about from one hill to another, and from
one pleasant little stream of water to another, just
as they needed to go — always looking for the best
pasture and the still clear water for his flock..
When the lion and the bear came down where he
was, to kill the sheep, David fought and killed
them, though he was hardly grown up ; and £rod
took care of him and saved him from all danger
and from all his enemies, and brought him to be
one of the greatest and wisest of men.
But David never forgot those early days; he
knew who it was that watched over him, just as he
watched over the sheep. For though his life was
full of dangers, and he had such fierce and terrible
enemies — though he himself was a man full of evil
passions, yet God was mightier than all, and so
kind to him as to bring him through all these
139
.-■®ngSj«feotIilf^e lived l^ loe^amfli^rd^^dmnrGd
^ISfkad died quietly in his palp'Wj^with his chil-
dren and friends all round him.
Now David knew, as I said, who took such gra-
cious care of him ; he loved to look back and see
how God had led him, and to praise that heavenly
Father for his great goodness. And he wrote this
beautiful Psalm not only to praise God, but to
show what perfect trust he had in the Lord's faith-
fulness and love. And when he was thinking how
he could tell of God's goodness, he remembered
how he spent his young days watching the lambs
and caring for them; and lie said, "The Lord is
my shepherd.V—-^^, ^^^ '
That;'"© juStHrhe fe?5ng'that the Christian has.
The poc)^ sinnei^ feels . as ifj^od was a |tranger,
and.thougljt nothing ibout hi^u^ssit wa^ to be
ang^ with^iaj whea lie did wrong. It don't seem
natural to him ^hat m4n should go to the Almighty
LTfrd with, all their litde affairs, and tell him all
about them, just as if he was a near and faithful
friend. But the Christian knows better, he knows
God loves him. And while he remembers that God
cares for all, and is kind to all, he remembers that
though he is so mighty, he has a special care for
him. If we have faith, we will not only say. The
Lord is a Shepherd, we will say. The Lord is our
Shepherd.
I. The Lord is our faithful Shepherd. David
begins, you see, by looking at God; that's the waj
140 PLANTATION SERMONS.
to be happy and to feel safe — to look away from our
poor selves, wicked and helpless, to the mighty
God. He is faithful. *' I am the Lord," he says ;
"I change not." He has proved that well. Long,
long before the world was, he had it all planned ;
and in his good time he spoke the wonderful word,
and the world was made. Then as soon as Adam
and Eve sinned, he promised them a Saviour; and
though so many hundreds of years had to roll away
— though men were so wicked and rebellious —
though the Lord saw just how they would treat his
dear and holy Son, yet he kept his promise. He
sent that Son into the world, full of grace and
truth, and let him die for sinners. Then he pro-
mised the Holy Spirit, and kept that promise —
made men repent and believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, pardoned their sins, changed their hearts,
and fitted them for heaven.
And how many promises he made men ! yet not
not one of them ever failed. Who ever could rise
up before God, and say, " I did this and this,
according to thy word, and the promise wasn't
fulfilled?" Not one! He said that they who
sought him early should find him, if they searched
for him with all their hearts; and so it is until this
day. He said he would take care of his people
even down to old age ; and he does it. When flesh
and heart fail them, he is the strength of their
heart and their portion for ever. Who ever came
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 141
to him and was cast out? Who ever trusted in
him and wasn't delivered ?
And we know he will be the same true and
watchful Friend to us also. " He abideth faithful ;
he cannot deny himself." Sickness and sorrow
and storm will come, but our Deliverer will come
also. He will bring us blessings as we need them.
He will bring chastenings and afflictions, too, when
we need them. He will keep every promise, and
answer all our prayers, and love us, as he loved
his disciples, "unto the end."
The Lord is our mighty Shepherd. Our enemies
are strong, our sorrows are great, and our wicked-
ness is terrible; and we need a mighty helper.
That's just what the Lord is. "He stretched out
the heavens like a curtain ; he makes the clouds
his chariot; he walks on the wings of the wind; he
laid the foundations of the earth ; he brought the
waters of the flood higher than the mountains, and
drove them away again with a word ; he waters the
hills with rain, and makes the grass and corn and
trees to grow. He appoints the sun and moon
their times to shine ; he makes darkness, and it is
night. The earth is full of his riches, and so is
the great, wide sea which he has made. He looks
on the earth and it trembles ! He touches the hills
and they smoke ! His glory and his might shall
endure for ever. — (Ps. civ.)
" This awful God is ours" — our Father and our
Shepherd. We are the work of his hands, and our
142 PLANTATION SERMONS.
new hearts are his also. When Christ died for lis
God raised him again from the dead. When the
disciples gathered together and prayed in fear and
sorrow, with the doors shut for fear of the Jews,
God sent the Holy Spirit, like a rushing mighty
wind, to fill their hearts with courage and their
mouths with wisdom. And though kings and na-
tions hated the gospel, and tried to destroy the
church, they never could do it; for God had pro-
mised that even the gates of hell should not prevail
against it.
So he brings us always just as much help as we
need. If daily blessings are enough, he sends
them; if our dangers and troubles grow great, then
he sends a great deliverance. Not one of his peo-
ple ever was lost. He will- conquer death and hell
for us, and bring us safe into the promised land.
God is our gracious and tender Shepherd. What
miserable creatures we should be, if God didn't
pity and love us! We are so blind and foolish —
we make so many mistakes, and live so carelcsly,
that we are always getting into trouble. We sin
so terribly, that earthly friends hardly ever have
patience with us. Only the Lord our Shepherd
bears with us ! He is never weary of helping us I
He forgiveth all our sins; he healeth all our
infirmities; he saves our life from destruction.
Oh how many poor sinners have gone to him for
mercy, and every one was pardoned !
He is " the God of all comfort." Very sorrowful
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 143
is this world ; full of wickedness, and full of tears.
Every heart aches, and fears, arxd mourns. Every-
body has sickness, and trouble, and death in the
house: trouble, too, that no man can comfort —
only God can pity and cure. So, if God wasn 't
" gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great
goodness," we should be friendless and helpless
just when we need help and comfort the most.
That's what the hymn says:
thou who driest the mourner's tear,
How dark this world would be,
If, when by sorrow wounded here,
We could not fly to thee !
But we can fly to him. Oh how often, when our
hearts are ready to break with grief, we go to his
mercy-seat and tell him all our trials ; and while
we pray he sends comfort! We feel stronger — we
grow calm — ready to suffer all his righteous will;
for our thoughts are on our heavenly home, and
rejoicing in God's glory. And though our sins are
so mixed up with our sorrows, that we almost feel
ashamed to carry them to anybody, yet we know
he is able to save "^o the uttermost ^ "Oh that
great, sweet word uttermost!" God can follow us
with his great love into all our wickedness, and
foolishness, and grief, and heal us there, just as he
stopped the mouths of the lions against Daniel, and
just as the Lord Jesus called dead Lazarus out of
the deep cave where he was buried. He heals the
144: PLANTATION SERMONS.
broken in heart, and binds up their wounds, and
he saves the chief of sinners.
II. "The Lord is my Shepherd — I shall not
want." Or, as David says in another place, "They
that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."
If we have foolish and wicked wants, God doesn 't
promise to satisfy them. But his sheep shall not
want anything that the Good Shepherd can give
them. And how foolish we should be, if we would
have what we like, whether our wise and gracious
God saw that it was good for us or not!
David knew very well that he could 'nt have
everything he liked. There are some pleasant
things that can't go together, and if a man has
one of them, he must do without the other. No
man can work and i^est at once ; he may want the
pleasure of both, but one must wait. So that wasn 't
what David meant; what did he mean?
Why, he knew what a thirsty, starving, miserable
world this is — full of war and violence, discontent
and envy, and wicked passions — men striving
against each other bitterly for things that can 't
do them good, and wasting all their chance to get
real good. " There is no peace to the wicked,
saith my God:" and yet peace is the only thing
worth having. Strength, money, comforts, these
are all very well to fill out with, but they can't
make a man happy. Who ever sees a rich man that
is happy? And how many poor and lowly people
are happy ! You go to the bedside of some sick
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 145
old man, and pity liim — and behold, he doesn't
want any pity ! He says, " I 'm leaving this sad
and wretched world — my Lord is here with me in
the dark valley — his word is sweet to me, and his
promises are all true ; pity poor careless sinners,
that are going down laughing and singing to hell
in the dark!" He don 't. want anything — his cup
is full.
Now you see what David meant — the Lord will
give me tvtry thing I need; "no good thing will
he keep back from them that walk uprightly." He
saw trouble and sorrow were coming — they always
come! but he wasn't afraid. They never hurt
God's people, they help them. He put himself in
the hands of his God. There he knew he was
safe. " The Lord is my shepherd j I shall not
want."
" He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.''
It shows what care a good shepherd takes of his
sheep, if he finds green pastures of tender grass for
them — so plenty, too, that when they have eaten
enough, they can still lie down in the midst of the
grass. It shows they have enough, and it shows
they feel safe. They can sleep, and he watches
over them.
What is the pasture of the Lord's flock ? Reli-
gious blessings. If he didn 't feed them with that
food, they would die ; if they have that, their souls
shall live for ever. See, now, how abundantly he
provides for them.
13
146 PLANTATION SERMONS.
First of all is the Sabbath-day. Ever since he
made the world, he has saved one day out of every
week for religion. He taught men to honour it
and keep it holy, and to come together in little
companies and worship him, and learn his will.
Worldly and wicked people have always grudged
the Lord that day, and tried to take it away from
him, to spend it for themselves. But God was too
good to let it be wasted so ; he hallowed it, and
made men respect it, and punished Sabbath-break-
ers so often, that all kinds of people are learning
at last to give God the day that belongs to him.
But it is the Christian's day after all. Then he
can leave this poor world out of sight, and spend
the time with the Lord Jesus. What a green and
precious pasture for God's flock Sunday is !
Then, again, there is the Bible — God's book,
we call it, and so it is. He taught the old prophets
and apostles what to say and how to say it. He
made them tell the story of Jesus Christ, and all
his wonderful and dying love. He wrote down
these " exceeding great and precious promises,"
that comfort us in all tribulation and give us
courage to wait on the Lord. He put all that wis-
dom there that his people have been studying, and
rejoicing about, all this long time. And what if
some of you can't read it? I wish you could, every
one of you, and I wish you had your own Bible,
too. But if you can 't read it, that don 't keep the
Bible from teaching you, and making many of you
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 147
wise unto salvation. All that you hear about your
Saviour — all God's precious words of comfort that
men repeat — all you know about religion — all that
your friends and your minister can teach you —
came right from the Bible. This is another part
of the Lord's " green pastures."
And there is the preaching, too. How many
thousands of good men our Father has taken away
from their worldly plans and hopes — from trying to
get pleasant homes aud live in comfort and wealth
— to make them preach the gospel. Made them
work hard, and weep and suffer, striving against
sin, and opposing those that tempt men — made
them deny themselves, and take up the cross, and
go about doing good, following Jesus, their great
Captain. And their reward is, to save poor sin-
ners : to know that those who were perishing in
sin have come to be the children of God. They
are happy — the Lord takes care of that. He
makes them a blessing to men, and that brings
them joy. They preach about the Lord Jesus, and
sinners' hearts melt, and repent, and trust him.
They tell of God's faithfulness, and the sorrowing
Christian is comforted. They warn men of sin,
and the backslider is ashamed and confesses and
repents. They are the under shepherds ; and they
lead the Lord's flock into " green pastures."
"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures."
How safe we are, when we stay in his pasture !
Those that wander off, and try to take care of them-
148 PLANTATION SERMONS.
selves, they are in danger and trouble all the time.
But if we abide with him, we shall be satisfied
with food, and lie down contented, and our rest
shall be sweet. He invites us there — he opens his
arms to us, and carries the weary ones in his bosom.
Oh, who shall not love and trust this great Shep-
herd, and live near to him ! Keep us in thy fold,
dear Saviour, and let us go out no more for ever !
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 149
SERMON XII.
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD.
*'Se leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul;
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his navies
sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me." — Psa. xxiii. 2, 3, 4.
David told us, in the first part of this Psalm,
who was his Shepherd, and how safe he felt in God's
hands, and how kindly he provides for his flock,
making them to -'lie down in green pastures."
Now he goes on, telling of other blessings the Lord
sends, and the care he takes of us all, even to the
end.
I. '' He leadeth me beside the still waters." If
David had only said, " beside the waters," you
couldn't tell certainly what he meant. It might
be a dangerous and rapid river, or the wild and
bitter sea. But he says, " the still waters" — some
clear and pleasant stream where the sheep can drink
safely, and drink as often and as much as they need.
That 's the very image of peace with God.
Sinners are in a strife with God. He wants them
to live one way, and they will live any other way
13*
150 PLANTATION SERMONS.
but that. He threatens, but they won't listen. He
" entreats," but they stop their ears. He is angry,
but they forget him. He is grieved, but they
harden their hearts. All they do, dishonours God;
every word and action, and even their thoughts,
break his law. If everybody was to follow their
example, God would 'nt have a friend, a servant,
or a son, in the whole wide world. His thoughts
and his ways are not like theirs ; and when God's
will crosses their will, then they rebel, and their
hearts blaspheme against him, even if their tongues
don 't dare to do it. God wants to make the world
good, and they want to keep their wicked pleasures;
so they are working right against Godi's plans all
the time.
That makes sinners afraid of God. In their
hearts they know they are resisting and grieving
him ; they know he is mighty, and they dare not
go to him as they are. They're afraid of God!
Afraid of our Shepherd and Friend — our dear Fa-
ther ! We know him ; we can trust all his promises.
We can go into our closets, and talk to him. We
don't have to wait till some trouble happens to
us, or till we are in terrible need of some blessing,
and then creep into his presence, trembling for fear
he will remember our sins, and slay us. Oh, no !
we "enter into his courts with joy ; it is a good
and pleasant thing to give thanks unto the Lord,
and to call on the name of the Most High." We can
pour out our hearts before him; we can "tell him
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 151
all our trials ;" and if we haven 't any trials, we can
kneel before him, and praise him, and call him our
Father. " We are his people, and the sheep of his
pasture.
And when the Christian is weary of this misera-
ble world — weary of seeing its sin and sorrow,
and striving against temptations, and keeping down
his passions, and doing his duties here, oh, how
much like pleasant waters to a thirsty man it is, to
be alone with God ! The Sabbath morning comes,
that God "blessed and hallowed" — or we find
some quiet little time in the week — when we can
put away all worldly thoughts and cares, and medi-
tate on God's sweet word. We lift up our heavy
and tired hearts to him, and he lays a gentle hand
on them, and they rest. We can almost see him
look down on us, so gracious and loving, and whisper
the precious Bible promise that comforts us. He
leadeth us beside the still and holy waters, and
quenches all our thirst.
II. " He restore th my soul." How strange alas,
it is, that though God is so good, and religion
makes men so happy, yet they will wander from
him; leave the green pastures and still waters that
our Shepherd provides, and stray in the wilderness
of the world ! But so it is : when God first takes
us to be his children, we promise that we will never
leave him, and we feel very sure that nothing will
ever tempt us away from our Saviour. We sing and
rejoice, and then grow careless and un watchful?
152 PLANTATION SERMONS.
and it don 't take long for these weak and foolish
hearts to get cold and hard, and to feel as if they
didn 't need any help against sin and Satan. Then
down they come ! The same way we loved the
world before, money, or pleasure, or whatever it
was, we begin to love it again without noticing it.
Somehow, our prayers get shorter and less pleasant;
we can't keep our thoughts from wandering. God
seems far off — not so awful or so beautiful as he did
once. At last, some sin that we fall into is so shock-
ing, that it makes us think — and behold, our pro-
mises are all broken, and our peace is gone !
But now, instead of coming straight back to God
as poor sinners, begging to be pardoned again for
Christ's sake, as we did at first, we go stumbling on
in dark and wicked ways. Sometimes it 's because
we love our sins too well ; sometimes, because we
are too proud to own our wickedness ; sometimes,
because we haven 't faith enough to believe God will
pardon us; we go on sinning and mourning, and
grieving God ; and then at last he takes pity on us,
and leads us back. " He restoreth our soul." We
would never find our way into peace again, if he
didn 't bring us there.
Sometimes God restores us by taking away our
idol. How many Christians have had that expe-
rience! They loved something too much, but they
didn't know it — they wouldn't believe it, even when
their friends saw it, and told them so. They didn 't
want to believe it, because if they did they would
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 153
have to repent of the sin, and give up the idol. So
they cover up their iniquity before the Lord, and
sin against their own souls. But when his time
comes, the money is lost, or the house burns down,
or the child dies, and is buried out of sight. Then,
while we are mourning over our affliction, it flashes
on us that G-od has done it; this was our idol,
and he took it away. And now we repent and re-
turn unto the Lord, and he has mercy on us, and
pardons us abundantly.
Sometimes God restores us by v)aking our con-
sciences. Por a long time, we cheat ourselves into
thinking that we are doing right, while in truth we
are living in sin. It is wonderful how we can de-
ceive ourselves, and hold up our heads, and look
honest, while we are breaking God's law, and our
own solemn promises ! But when the Holy Spirit
comes to us, we can H help seeing our sin, and being
ashamed of it, too. " Mine eye seeth thee," Job
says : " therefore I abhor myself, and repent in
dust and ashes."
Sometimes God restores us by making us long for
peace again with him. — We never have peace when
we wander from God — not true peace. We may
be careless and thoughtless, and call it peace, but
we're not happy. And though for a while we may
amuse ourselves and drive away our heaviness by
worldly pleasures ; yet just as soon as God touches
our hearts, we find out how poor and lonely we are.
Our heart and our flesh cry out for God — for the
154 PLANTATION SERMONS.
living God. Every thing in the world looks mean
and worthless without his blessing. Then we call
to him: " My Father! my Father I" we throw down
our vanities and sins, and run to his feet. And oh,
what joy and peace it is to see him smile again, and
call us his own dear children.
III. " He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake." When we have been falling
into sin, wandering from God, and getting lost in
the crooked ways of the world, we begin to find
out at last how weak we are — certain to go wrong,
if God don 't keep us right. Then what a comfort
it is to remember God's promise to lead us, and to
have the Christian's experience that God does lead
him!
That 's one special part of a shepherd's work, to
lead the- sheep. He knows where the green mea-
dows are, and the streams that never dry, and he
calls them away from the barren land, to the place
he provides for them. For the Lord's flock, the
only safe and pleasant paths are "the paths of
righteousness ; " they always run through green pas-
tures and beside still waters. Those ways are ways
of pleasantness, and those paths are paths of peace,
But alas, we know very well we can 't trust our-
selves to find those paths, and walk in them. Our
hearts are too deceitful and wicked ; we are so igno-
rant and blind, that if we go alone, we will surely
get lost. Somebody must lead us, and keep us
there J and the Lord our Shepherd will do it.
** The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous."
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 155
He leads us by making our conscience tender and
honest. Many consciences keep still when men are
going wrong, don 't cry out and scare them from
wicked ways: so they go on easily in sin. But
when God blesses us, and undertakes to lead us, he
wakes up our consciences, so they have to tell the
truth. When we are going to break the Sabbath,
or give way to evil tempers, or do anything that 's
unrighteous, conscience says, No ! — and raises such
an alarm that we turn back into the '' strait and nar-
row way " again.
He leads us by teaching us how the Lord Jesus
walked. He says, " My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me.'' Often, when we
can 't study out our way for ourselves, and every
thing looks dark and doubtful to us, we remember
that the Lord was in just such a strait once, and
we know what he did and said. He had enemies ;
and he loved them, and gave himself for them. He
was reproached; but he bore it meekly, and " re-
viled not again." He was tempted, and resisted the
devil. He was surrounded with sinners, but he
lived and died pure and spotless: he pitied them,
blessed them as long as he lived, and then laid down
his life for them. Thinking of these things, we see
what spirit we ought to have, and what we ought
to do. So the Lord " leadeth us in paths of right-
eousness."
But most of all he leads us hj giving us the Holy
Spirit. We know not even " wliat we should pray
156 PLANTATION SERMONS.
for as we ought," but " the Spirit helpeth our infirm-
ities, and maketh intercession for us." He makes
us grow in grace — causes us to understand our
hearts and find out our sins — gives us repentance,
and faith, and love; so we grow strong, and we
walk straight and free in God's way.
But why should the Lord do all this for us?
Why should he care for poor sinners, and lead them
patiently and carefully in the paths of righteous-
ness ? How do we know that he will go on with us
the same way, all our days ? David tells us : "He
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his
name^s sake.^^ The glory God loves most, is the
glory of goodness. He loves to be praised for his
grace. When he came down and passed before
Moses, and showed him his glory, what did he call
himself? " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and
gracious, long sufi'ering and abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity, and transgression, and sin." And the song
they sing to him in heaven is " Hallelujah ! Salva-
tion, and glory, and honour be unto our God!'
And many, many times he made the prophets call
him our Redeemer, our Shepherd, and our Father.
So we know he will take care of us : he loves us,
and he cares for his own glory. As long as the
world lasts, he will glorify his great name by watch-
ing over his flock, and leading them in the paths of
righteousness.
lY. " Yea, though I walk through the valley of
\
THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 157
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me ; thy rod, and thy staff, they comfort
me." People often speak of this, as if David only
meant that he wouldn 't be afraid when he came to
die — as if death was the most dreadful thing that
could happen to a Christian. It means, "in the
valley of the deadly shadow " — when any terrible
fear or sorrow comes on us. When a shepherd is
trying to drive his sheep, and they come to a dark
or dangerous place, or anything comes in the way
that frightens them, they crowd back, and refuse to
go on. Then, if they know their keeper well, and
he goes before them, they "hear his voice and fol-
low him ! " they fear no evil, for he is with them.
And so, when the Christian is going on, doing
his work, and serving his Lord, he comes sometimes
to a dark and threatening place. Danger and
trouble are waiting for him — the path is rough and
lonely ; he feels weak and helpless, and his heart
trembles. He looks this way and tliat way, to see
if he can 't get round it ; but no, his way is hedged
up; he must either go on and do his duty, and bear
the terrible evils that seem to be waiting for him,
or he must turn back and deny his Lord. Or may
be, the way looked pleasant and easy enough before,
but now storms and sorrows begin to come down,
and the sky grows dark. It was all light and hope-
ful before, but now there's a deep and deadly
shadow on it. Perhaps his good name is taken
away, or some of those he loves are fallen into
14
158 PLANTATION SERMONS.
sin, and about to perisli ; or he is sick, and about
to die.
His heart faints in him — where shall he fly?
how can he escape? If he was an enemy of God, he
would fall into despair 1 But he isn't an enemy — he
is one of the Lord's flock. As he thinks of that, his
terror all passes away. He fears no evil, because
his Shepherd is with him. The Lord Jesus has
been through all this trouble ; right there, under
the shadow, he is waiting for us ! And he will put
his arms of love around us, and bear us safely
through :
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I -will not, I will not desert to its foes :
That soul though all hell should endeavour to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake.
Sinners may think this is all talk ; but we know
it is truth. Men have suffered the loss of all things :
given their body to the flames ; been tortured, not
accepting deliverance; and in the deep dungeon,
like Paul and Silas, they have sung praises to God.
They have called their children and friends to their
death-bed to show them with what peace a Christian
can die. It is the sinner's unbelief that makes him
think so : that same unbelief that God is angry with.
" He that believeth not shall he damned." While
we that were perishing are trusting in our Saviour,
and being saved by his precious blood, those that
reject him shall be cut off, and that for ever. Turn
then, poor sinner, before it is too late ! Seek the
THB LORD OUR SHEPHERD. 159
Lord while he may be found ! Call upon him while he
is near ! " For behold the day cometh that shall burn
as an oven; and all the proud — yea, and all that
do wickedly, shall be as stubble ; and the day that
cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts.
But unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of
Righteousness arise, with healing in his wings."
160 PLANTATION SERMONS.
SEEMON XIII.
THE GOSPEL FEAST.
' Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine ene-
mies ; thou anointest my head with oil ; my cup runneth ojier.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever"
— PsA. xxiii. 5, 6.
David has told us already how the Lord led him
into pleasant pastures, and took care of all his
sheep — feeding and resting them. But this isn't
enough for him; he wants to praise the Lord's
bounties more yet ; so now he tells us that the Lord
makes a great feast for him. In David's country,
the kings and great men often made feasts for their
friends — gave them beautiful clothes to wear, and
put rich and sweet perfumes on their heads, and
their clothes : then the king made his soldiers guard
the place, and keep them safe. And often they
gathered so many friends to the feast, that they
couldn't spread the table in the house, but went
out in the open air, where every body could see
them.
I. That 's what David means here. God "loves
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 161
the saints ; he knows them well." He gathers them
into his house, and makes them happy there. Once
they were hungry and thirsty, wicked and miser-
able, full of evil passions and fears ; now he gives
them rest and peace, and feeds them with heavenly
food. As the Lord Jesus said, " Peace I leave with
you — my peace I give unto you." What peace our
pure and loving Saviour must have had, in spite of
all his sorrows and enemies! He knew he loved
God, and poor sinners, too; he knew he was opening
a way to save them, and glorify his Father. He
knew he came from God, and was going right back
to heaven again ; and he knew he was to carry a great
company after him, " redeemed out of every kindred,
and people, and tongue," into eternal glory. He
knew God loved him; for he says, "Therefore doth
my Father love me, because I lay down my life for
the sheep." So he knew that he had no enemies but
the wicked, and he was trying to bless them ; and
his heart was perfectly at rest — as the prophet
Isaiah says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee."
And now, when the Lord says, "My peace I give
unto you," you see what a feast he makes for his
people. The world never understands our joy.
Often the sinner tries to find out what makes
Christians happy. It isn 't riches, or honour, or
pleasure here ; it isn 't even comfort, or health, or
long life, or success in his plans and toils. God's
child can lose all these things, and be happy still.
162 PLANTATION SERMONS.
His face may have a holy brightness, and his voice
may be sweet, and gentle, and calm, when all the
good things of this life are taken away, and he is
drawing near to the cold and awful grave. His eyes
are raised to heaven, and he is whispering praises
to his God — glory to his Saviour to the last. As
the hymn says :
''I'll praise my Maker with my breath.
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers."
" It shall come to pass that at the evening time it
shall be light." — While the world's darkness is
growing deep and dreadful round the Lord's flock,
light from heaven sMnes in their hearts; and sor-
row and mourning flee away.
" Thou preparest a table before me in the pre-
sence of mine enemies." You remember, I told you
just now that often kings and great men spread out
their feasts in the open air, and perhaps the king's
enemies might be hid among the rocks, and on the
hills, looking on, and watching to see if the guard
was strong and good, or whether they could attack
the people at the feast. And it shows how strong
the king is, and how well his friends can trust him,
if they can sit down, and eat and drink, and be
merry, in the very presence of their enemies.
Now that's just the way with the Christian ; he
can enjoy all God's blessings, and feast on God's
goodness, though he knows his enemies are all round
him. There is Satan, going about like a roaring
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 163
lion, seeking whom he may devour. There are
the devils lying in wait for him, ready to tempt him
and destroy him if they can. There are all the
wicked, God's enemies, and the enemies of religion,
watching God's people just as the old Pharisees
watched the Lord Jesus, " seeking how they might
accuse him." And never mind how pleasant the
world may look ; sinners may bow to us and flatter
us, and look ever so friendly — you and I know
how many would rub their hands, and laugh, and
rejoice, if we fell into sin. Our enemies are all
around us.
And it shows how good the Lord is, how strong
and faithful, what a sure defence on every side, that
we can enjoy religion in despite of our enemies. We
don 't have to wait till we die before we can look
bright and praise God for saving us. Oh, no ! We
can sing out, loud and clear, as David sung, " The
Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I
fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom
shall I be afraid ? Why art thou cast down,
my soul; and why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God !" We sit down at the Lord's
table, or we commune with him in secret, and our
hearts are full of peace. We remember our ene-
mies, but we don 't fear them. Our trust is in the
Lord, who made heaven and earth. We may be
amazed and troubled when we first see them ; we
may cry out as David did once, ** Lord, how they are
increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise
164 PLANTATION SERMONS.
up against me. Many say of my soul — There is
no help for him in God ! " But our next word
•will be, " But thou, Lord, art a shield for me " — my
heart shall not fear.
" Thou anointest my head with oil." In those old
days, when the people came to the king's feast, he
provided beautiful clothes for them all, fit to feast
in. They took off the dusty clothes they travelled
in, and put on these fine robes; then the servants
perfumed their heads with sweet and pleasant oil ;
that was the last part of their dressing ; when that
was done, they were all ready for the feast
And I suppose that's what David means in the
Psalm. The Lord first prepares the feast for his
people, and then he prepares his people for the feast.
He takes off our sin and shame, gives us new hearts,
and puts Christ's goodness on us. You remember
the parable Jesus told, about the king sending his
servants into the highways and hedges, and bring-
ing the poor, ragged, lame beggars to his splendid
supper. That's just what our God does: "our
righteousness is filthy rags;" all we do is vile, and
our hearts are black with sin ; but God doesn 't
give us up for that. He sends his Holy Spirit to
bring us into his kingdom — to take away all our
wickedness — to touch our hearts with sweet and
holy feelings — to fit us to enjoy religion, and to
feast at our Lord's table.
" My cup runneth over." Oh, how generous our
King is ! Who doesn't have more blessings than he
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 165
knows how to use ? Who saves all his Sunday time
for religion? Who feeds on God's holy word as
much as he can? Our cup runs over; God pours
out mercy on us "exceeding abundantly, above all
we can ask or think." Did you ever try to count
up God's gifts ? First of all, count all the minutes
in your life — then relations and friends — com-
forts, deliverances out of danger — kind things done
for you — good words out of the Bible, sermons,
solemn thoughts, dealings of the Holy Spirit ; can
you count them all ? And if you could, what thou-
sands of blessings you have besides these ! So you
would have to say, "0 Lord my God, great are the
wondrous works which thou hast done. If I should
declare them, and speak of them, they are more
than I am able to express."
II. " Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life." David comes back now to
the same thing he said at first. The first verse
says, " I shall not want;" and the last verse says,
" goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
my life." What a happy confidence in God ! Our
great Shepherd goes with his sheep, wherever they
have to go. If duty calls them into places of temp-
tation, he is there ; if their path lies through dark
and terrible sorrows, he is there. When everything
smiles and looks pleasant, the good Shepherd, that
gave his life for the sheep, is by our side ; when " the
wolf Cometh," and dangers are thick all round us,
the hired shepherd would hide himself; but our
168 PLANTATION SERMONS.
Lord shed his precious blood to save us. So
where our Shepherd goes, goodness and mercy
go too.
Now see what David says about God in another
place: "Thou compassest my path and my lying
down, and art acquainted with all my ways. Thou
hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine
hand upon me." He lays his hand upon us ! As
if he was so watchful of us — so busy keeping us
from danger and evil, that he keeps us within his
arm's length, so that he has only to reach out his
hand and cover us ! "If I ascend up into heaven,
thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning,
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee ;
the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the
light are both alike to thee." Just as bright as the
sunny day is, when you can hardly bear the dazzling
light, just so bright is the deep midnight to God,
that he may take care of his people. " The night
shineth as the day."
What a pity Christians couldn't keep on owning
God's goodness and mercy all the days of their
lives ! They are ready enough to talk about it
beforehand; but when trouble comes, then they for-
get God. God looks angry to them, because their
faith is weak, not because he is changed any. He
is our faithful Friend ; and when things look dark-
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 167
est and saddest to us — when our bodies are racked
with pain, or our hearts with grief; when darkness
falls on our spirits, and his peace is hid from us ;
his goodness and mercy are following us still. They
never fail. The sun will grow weary, at last, of
rising and setting ; winter and summer, and day and
night, will come to an end ; but God will be good
for ever. He will never be weary of blessing his
people, or saving them that put their trust in him.
That 's what David says next, " I will dwell in the
house of the Lord for ever." God's people dwell
in his house in this world, in a certain way ; they
are always near their great Father, and under his
continual care. He feeds them, and clothes and
comforts them, and makes them happy. " Blessed
are they that dwell in thy house; they will he
still praising thee.'^ And if religion didn 't do any
thing else for us but that, wouldn 't it be well worth
having? If it made us hopeful when everybody
else was discouraged; if it made us patient and
meek when all the world was rebellious and discon-
tented; if it gives us an Almighty Friend in this
dark and lonely world — a Father's house to live in,
while sinners are orphans, and a pillow for our ach-
ing heads when they are left in the storm ; well
might we praise the Lord our Shepherd, and his
great mercy !
But God has a better house than this, and when
this poor world is pulled down, and burnt up, he
will take us there. " I will dwell in the house of
168 PLANTATION SERMONS.
the Lord for ever." We couldn't do that here;
for these bodies must perish, and this world shall
be destroyed. But " we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a
building of God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens." A building of God ! what
a fair house must that be which God builds ! We
see something of his workmanship here ; we see the
green fields and flowers, the shining rivers, and the
glorious sea; we look up, and behold the sky with
all its wonders ; the sun shining in his strength ;
the moon and stars which he has ordained: the
clouds, the mountains, and the morning light. Then
look on these bodies where we dwell ; the strong
and skilful hands, the soft skin, the eyes so bright
and beautiful ; and yet these are not our homes !
This world is only a kind of tavern where we spend
a few days ; these bodies God calls a tabernacle —
a tent that he has pitched for us to live in a little
while. But that heavenly world is a home — God's
home, and our home. What a noble palace it must
be ! John the Apostle tries to describe it for us,
but it is too glorious to be described ; he only gives
you a confused picture of splendid things ; clear as
glass, pure as gold, gleaming like fire. But it is
the house of the Lord, and it lasts for ever. We
know that, and that 's enough.
We know, too, that our dear friends will be
there. Jesus will be there. God will be there.
Sin and sorrow will never be remembered again.
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 1G9
All will be free, and pure, and happy, and there
shall be no more storms, nor night. We will dwell
in the house of the Lord for ever.
I. We see what a wretched state poor sinners are
in. The Lord is not their Shepherd, and so they 're
always in want. E-eligious blessings are not as
pleasant and dear to them as green pastures to the
sheep ; they have no peace with God like still sweet
water in their hearts. Their souls wander in dark-
ness ; they won 't let God restore them ; their feet
don 't love the paths of righteousness. And oh,
when they come to walk in death's dark shade, and
bitter sorrows compass them about, what fear and
wo fill their hearts! God is not with themj he
turns a deaf ear to their cries.
Their souls starve in sin and unbelief; God has
spread a great feast, and invited all men to it, but
they will not hearken or come to him. And when at
last they want to come, just as they are dying, per-
haps, their enemies are too mighty : death and hell
stare them in the face, and scare away every thought
of repenting and believing. Goodness and mercy
did follow them all the days of their lives, but they
are cast out of the house of the Lord for ever.
How blind and foolish all their pride looks now !
What use are riches and honour to a man, when he
is drowning in the sea, or dying in his burning
house ? And what comfort can men take in hell, in
those things they toil and sin for here ? " Thou
fool! " says the Bible — " thou fool, this night shall
15
170 PLANTATION SERMONS.
thy soul be required of thee ; then whose shall those
things be which thou hast provided?"
2. But the Christian ought to rejoice and sing for
joy, at all times. He ought to treat the Lord as his
Shepherd ; that is, he ought to follow him, and trust
him, and obey his word. Then nothing can hurt
him, or pluck him out of his Father's hand. The
eternal arms of love are round him, and the King
of Kings is his Friend.
Let us be done, then, with bitterness, and discon-
tent, and fear. Brighten those mourning faces !
Lift up that sad heart with faith! Though our
enemies— pain, disappointment sorrow, and death,
are all around us, goodness and mercy are nearer to
us, and change every trouble to a blessing. Only
be faithful, and follow hard after your Lord, and he
will light up your darkness with his smile, and still
your heart in danger, and you shall dwell in the
house of the Lord /or ever.
THE END.
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